The Changeling
by Metatron85
Summary: Westbound Enterprises has a new CEO in the form of Jade West, daughter of its late founder. But with this new position of power comes enemies and when they begin to threaten the lives of the city and everything her father has built; Jade must become...The Changeling. But both sides of her double life share a common problem: who can she really trust? AU JORI endgame.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm back despite what might feel like the world is ending just outside our windows. I sincerely hope everyone in the real dangerous areas (the fires on the west coast and the storms hitting down south). There have been scumbags in the wake of these disasters but we have seen far more amazing people step up and helped the countless victims from donating provisions to braving the melee to recover survivors.**

 **I promised to come back with a big story and here we are. Of all the stories I've written over the years, probably the one I was most disappointed how it turned out was "Last Victory." It began with such promise but I felt the end result didn't deliver. I deeply appreciate your kind words but I knew it wasn't my best, especially when compared to "Edge" or "The Princess and the Knight." I kept wanting to write something that was on that level.**

 **And since we live in the age of reboots as far as comic books are concerned; why not take another whack at it and do it right this time. Now in this new story, I wanted to mix it up a bit and make Jade the focus as the heroine. And what of Tori? You will have to wait and see. But this will be a JORI tale I assure you.**

 **As always, please leave your comments and let me know what you think. Its's a little short but the next one will be longer.**

 **;-)**

* * *

The turnout was impressive. Then again it was the funeral of one of the wealthiest and most famous men in the world.

Alexander Lee West was 56 years old when he past. An enthusiast of aviation, West spent hundreds of hours in the air. His flying instructor have told the press that he was one of the best pilots he has seen. So one could imagine the shock of the tycoon's helicopter going down in the mountains overlooking Carbajal Valley, in Argentina. His copter was discovered about thirty hours after last communication, his body found in the wreckage. News of his sudden death spread through all media outlets and social networks.

The papers tried their damnedest to sum up the life of such a man within a few paragraphs in the obituaries but most found it impossible. So, a lot of editors just put the story on the front page. Alex West; industrialist, inventor, all around innovator... He made his fortune from about sixty patents that go back as far as when he was nine. One of the very first times his name saw print was when he was expelled from Wade-Paulson Elementary School after his science project accidentally blew out the glass windows of the gymnasium.

By the end of high school, he had already made his first million - making him one of the youngest to do so. By his twenties, he was enrolled in Harvard. Alex wasn't particularly interested in higher education in the traditional sense, though he was well-read and always looking for something new he could handle. He would always saw how much school bored him. Alex's reason for going to Harvard was because his classmate from senior year, Emily Heard became accepted to the ivy league school. He was smitten with the fair-skinned brunette but despite his confidence he lacked the nerve to simply ask her out. Women have always been after him, not only because he wasn't bad looking but certainly the burgeoning bank account helped.

When it came to Emily, none of that mattered to her. Well she did admit that she found Alex handsome, it was his intellect that turned her on most. She would be studying late at night, occasionally catching glimpses of Alex sketching in his notebook of some new idea for an invention. She would give him a sneer when she saw his homework was already finished for the next day. Alex found even her look of scorn attractive. After graduation, the pair were married. And only one thing made them happier than that moment. It was the day Emily told Alex she was pregnant.

But the three quarters of that year, which was so blissful, quickly ended when Emily died during childbirth. Alex felt so alone until the nurse brought him his daughter.

It was at that moment everything changed. Jade became Alex's whole world. He promised to his late wife that he would be the best dad he could be. As a billionaire who was single, any woman in the world would have happily courted him. But he wasn't interested in going on dates. When he was done with work and Jade done with school; the two would play games, watch movies, cook dinner together. And they loved every moment of it. Alex also learned early on when Jade was old enough to start assembling things with LEGO bricks that she had that same spark that he had - the knack of an engineer. Remembering how little his own parents supported him, Alex quickly enrolled Jade into art school. He knew the frustration of having vivid imaginings and lacking the skilled hands to illustrate it on paper.

Jade was her father's daughter through and through. She was supremely intelligent, gregarious when necessary but preferred to be left alone, distrustful of authority, and had the penchant for breaking the rules. Alex felt personal flashbacks when he would sit in the disciplinary office of whatever school Jade was attending to hear the latest infraction his daughter committed. On one occasion, a boy touched her inappropriately but since the only other witnesses were his friends, her story wasn't believed. Alex said he believed her and took her out for ice cream, proud of her left hook to the creep's jaw. Jade may have been wealthy on paper but with a father who thought the world of her, it was in that regard she felt truly rich.

And shortly after completing college with an MBA, Jade's father was gone.

She was prepared to take up a position in her father's company, likely within research and development. But that was no longer. Now Jade West was to take up the mantle as CEO of Westbound Enterprises. It was always a possibility in the back of her mind, but she never envisioned it would happen so soon.

* * *

The rain had begun to slacken once his body was interred.

Everything Alex West did was larger than life and his family plot was no exception. His gravestone was marble, with dates and a couple simple words. What was more opulent was the grave marker next to his. The one for Emily West had a nine-foot stone angel holding a book and a flower. At the base of the statue, was a tablet showing the dedication which contained a favorite quote of hers:

 _Rapidly, merrily,_

 _Life's sunny hours flit by,_

 _Gratefully, cheerily_

 _Enjoy them as they fly!_

\- Charlotte Bronte

Jade's eyes filled with tears upon reading that. Her father had taken her to her mother's grave more than once but she never fully understood that quote until now. Nothing like a dead woman to use the words of another deceased woman to remind her only child to make every day count.

The dark-haired woman got on one knee to place fresh flowers on both graves, a ritual she promised to keep as least weekly. There would never be any dead plants on her parents' graves if she had anything to say about it.

"Take care of mom, dad. I'll try to make you both proud."

Jade got back up to her feet and slowly walked down the hill to the waiting matte black Acura ILX at the bottom. It was customary for someone of her position to be transported by driver but she kindly declined. She would rather be alone with her thoughts. Her father had one driver in particular, Randy, that would take him around town when he had to divide his attention with phone calls and emails. Jade knew Randy ever since she was little and didn't want to be rude by keeping the partition up, effectively avoiding idle conversation. It would be less awkward to simple have no one to talk to.

There would be plenty of time for that with the impending press conference as well as her first time addressing the board of directors. Jade wasn't looking forward to that one bit. She knew she was going to have her work cut out for her, being the youngest one there by at least thirty years.

With a slam of the door, a resigned sigh and turn of the key; Jade was off.

The ground was already quite wet from the rain and the clouds above didn't look like it showed any sign of stopping, so Jade proceeded with purpose but caution as well. She hydroplaned once as a teenager learning to drive and it scared the hell out of her, completely losing control like that. Fortunately, no one was hurt then. But that was a long time ago. Though with things as they were, Jade found it difficult to not get lost in memories. Memories of a happier, simpler time.

She was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice the SUV tailing her. Jade wasn't the most observant at this time but even she began to notice the vehicle was matching her every maneuver. She knew downtown quite well so she tried an alternate toward Westbound Tower to try and shake off the mysterious driver. Upon closer inspection in the side view mirror, Jade could make out it was a midnight blue Chevy Equinox.

 _"Has to be more paparazzi,"_ she thought. _"Can't these bottom feeders leave me alone right now?"_

When the car bumped into her from behind, Jade's head jerked back and forth.

"The fuck?"

Now its high beams came blazing out, reflecting a blinding whiteness in her mirrors. Then the Chevy rammed yet again.

"This guy's crazy!"

Jade saw her phone on the passenger seat and tried to reach for it while keeping her eyes on the road and her left hand on the steering wheel.

"Come on, come on, come on..."

She stepped on the gas and turned sharply right. Unfortunately, her worse fear happened and she begun spinning violently. Jade screamed for her life until she banged into a rudimentary fence made of PVC pipe and plastic orange netting. This barrier was under construction. Jade peered outside and could see she was about three stories from the bay below. Now stopped but not in park, Jade quickly reached for her phone and began to dial for the police.

9...

SCREEEEEEEEEECH...

1...

SMASH...

The Acura was airborne, very briefly, before succumbing to gravity and the cold indifference of the dark waters.

It didn't take long at all for the car with a frightened Jade inside to be completely swallowed up by the bay.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for the positive reception of the first chapter.**

 **Hoping to update this baby weekly. Maybe.**

 **Fingers crossed.**

* * *

Water was filling up the inside of the car fast. Jade opened the glove compartment and retrieved her emergency breakout tool. It looked like a metallic ballpoint pen but when submerged, it was the only thing with the strength to break a car window. She pressed the small device against the tempered glass of her driver's side window and pressed the button, releasing a tiny steel pike. And as it goes with tempered glass, the right tap shattered it.

Jade closed her eyes and prepared herself for swimming through the shards but her seat belt wouldn't detach. In her panic, she didn't realize that she was taking in more and more water. Her hands drifted away from their focus as she began to drown.

Before things went completely dark, Jade thought she vaguely saw something coming toward her.

* * *

Coming to, Jade saw a faint flash of red from the hair of her rescuer. It was a young, diminutive woman. Jade's face was signal for the Samaritan to get off her so she could roll onto her side and expel the water from her lungs.

Both women regarded each other, clutching their chests.

"Oh good," the redhead finally said. "You made it."

Jade coughed a fit before having the wherewithal to say anything.

"What..." cough, cough "happened?"

"I saw the whole thing. Some bastard ran you off the road. I tried to get the license number but he sped away. HB5-something."

The brunette looked curiously at the strange girl. She looked genuinely apologetic that she didn't get the whole tag upon witnessing this emergency.

"The car..." Jade began to recall vividly. "I couldn't get out." She was taking in just how soaking wet the other woman was. "You saved me?"

The girl smiled and nodded.

Jade knew a lot of things but two things eluded her. What creature tried to kill her and what planet did this girl come from?

Fortunately Jade's hero stood before she herself tried to. The redhead held out her hand and Jade took it gratefully.

"Thank you," she breathed.

"It's nothing" the girl shook her head.

"No really...Not just for that but...for everything...thank you."

The woman sighed, "You really scared me back there. When I was pulling you out, you looked so pale I thought for sure you were a goner."

Jade shook her head.

"No, that's just my face. I don't tan."

"I'm Cat by the way," she smiled, extending her hand. "Cat Valentine."

Jade raised an eyebrow as she took it and shook. "That's your name?"

The girl called Cat looked visibly hurt.

"What's THAT supposed to mean?"

Realizing her poor choice of words, Jade smoothed things over. "No, no, no, I just meant I never heard of such a name. Its nice, I like it. That's why I asked because it sounded too cool to be real."

Cat's mood instantly perked up. People have said her name was silly but certainly not cool.

"I'm Jade..."

"Jade West," Cat grinned.

Blue-green eyes were taken aback. "You know me?"

The redhead threw her hands up, "Well duh, who in this town doesn't know Jade West?"

"Fair enough, but how did you find me?"

Cat looked around embarrassed. "I sort of followed you."

"Qu-est que ce?"

Jade was then led to Cat's car where it was hastily parked with the driver door wide open and the headlights still on. Clearly she had little time to react before taking the plunge to save Jade. The shorter girl leaned into the vehicle and retrieved a leather-bound accordion organizer. On the front were the initials A.L.W.

Her eyes widened at this.

"It was your fathers," Cat explained. "I used to be his secretary. Well, one of them anyway. And I was more or less chosen as the messenger when his estate and all his affairs were settled. And being Mr. West's sole heiress, you've got a lot of paperwork and whatnot to sift through. I was just given explicit instructions to make sure you got that as soon as possible and that no one besides you were allowed to open it. See?"

She pointed at the small padlock.

"Where's the key?" Jade asked.

Cat shrugged, "They never gave me one. Maybe your dad already gave it to you?"

Jade thought hard but couldn't think of any key of significance her father had given her other than the keys to her Acura. But that was currently at the bottom of the bay.

"Thank you for giving me this, Cat."

"People have told me I'm a real life saver," the redhead quipped.

Suddenly the goofiest smile came across Jade's usual even-keeled face. And the face must have been contagious because Cat started to lose it. Before either girl knew it, they were holding onto each other, laughing like a couple of fools. After the funeral and her own near-death experience, this was Jade's first taste of levity all day.

"Oh, man I needed that," Jade managed to get out.

They looked at each other in the reflection of the car windows.

"Well we look like a couple of drowned rats," Cat said.

"You got towels, or anything in that car of yours?" Jade asked.

Cat shook her head.

"Is your upholstery leather?"

Cat shook her head.

Jade grinned. "Oh good. How about we get out of these clothes?"

"Excuse me?"

Jade rolled her eyes.

"I meant my apartment isn't far and I'm sure to have something for you to throw on. Its the least I can do."

"Shouldn't we call the cops?" Cat asked as she got behind the wheel.

"Yeah," Jade replied getting in the passenger seat. "I'll do that on the way."

* * *

The car stopped at Westbound Tower. The doorman, Michel, got up to start telling the strange woman to park elsewhere. He then faltered when he saw Jade get out the other side.

"Ms. West," he stood straight like he was going to salute a four star general.

The pale woman held up her hand, "Its alright. Could you please do something for me?"

Michel nodded.

"Could you please make sure Ms. Valentine's car here stays parked for as long as she needs. Nobody tows it, okay?"

"Done, was there anything else?"

Jade was about to say there wasn't but remembered. "Oh yeah, the police will probably be around soon. Just send them up to my apartment."

The doorman looked grave.

"The police? What was happened?"

"You know the usual," Jade sighed. "Driving home and suddenly some asshat tries to murder you."

Michel looked stunned as the two woman walked past him into the building, hair still very wet.

"I think nearly dying accidentally gave you a sense of humor," Cat whispered.

Jade pushed the button for the seventeenth floor and shrugged.

"If we're lucky, its not just brain damage."

* * *

The elevator let them off into a foyer about thirty feet in length before being led to the door to Jade's apartment proper.

Cat's jaw hit the floor when the door swung open.

The place was enormous. The living room was bright and spacious. And it was all overlooked by a massive movie screen, which probably would make a football game look awesome. Meanwhile, the surrounding leather sectional could accommodate an entire football team. Over in the dining area, an oval table with eight wooden chairs. Overhead was a beautiful crystal chandelier. Then over in the kitchen was all stainless steel appliances, marble counter tops and black and white tiling on the floor.

"Holy crap," Cat blurted out.

"This way," Jade pointed. "Guest bathroom is over there but the shower is in the master bathroom."

The redhead's brown eyes could not believe the bedroom.

Black and grey was the motif for this room. The four post bed and curtains all coordinated beautifully with the carpeting and furniture. At this point, Jade took Cat by the hand and led her into her closet. When she turned the lights on, Cat shook her head in disbelief.

Dresses, blouses, pants, skirts, accessories, and shoes as far as the eye can see. Everything was neatly arranged, first by function (social or practical) and then by color. And it was pretty bad that this closet meant for one girl was half the size of Cat's own apartment.

"Dude, I can _live_ in here."

Jade chuckled. "I would be fair with the rent."

"You have any like sweatpants or t-shirts?"

"Yeah, on the other side. But why would you wear some baggy sweatpants to dinner?"

Cat looked shocked.

"Dinner?"

"Well, yeah, silly. You only saved my life. I told you, its the least I can do. Besides I'm starving, aren't you?"

Cat let her growling stomach to the talking.

"That's settled. But seriously though, pick anything you want. If it fits, take it."

A royal blue mermaid dress caught Cat's eye and she carefully took it off the rack and held it in front of her, looking into one of the many mirrors.

"You like that one, eh?" Jade leaned against the wall.

"It's beautiful," was all she could say.

"Then its yours," Jade smiled.

Cat's face shot up as her stomach took a dive.

"I couldn't take this!"

"Yes, you can" Jade nodded. "Now get a shower so I can, too."

"Thanks, Jade."

Jade wandered toward the door leading to the hallway.

"I'll be out here."

* * *

The leather case sat on the coffee table, teasing Jade with its secrets.

She stared long and hard at the mysterious item her father left her. Jade cannot recall ever seeing it before and her dad never really kept much of anything from her.

Being his replacement as CEO, as indicated in the will, and how this case was only entrusted to her; whatever information was inside had to be of great importance. Jade was always a person Alex West could trust.

"Where do I have a key to this thing?" Jade mused.

She got up and started rummaging through her drawers all around the apartment. Spare keys to her place, her car, her luggage...

Jade plopped on the couch in frustration.

"Dad, you really didn't want to make it easy, did you?"

A knock on the door startled her.

Jade turned the knob and saw what she more or less expected.

"Are you Jade West?" asked one of the uniformed officers.

She nodded and stepped aside so they could come inside. The first cop was followed by two others.

"I'm Detective Myers," he told Jade. "I understand that you wish to file a report."

Jade crossed her arms. "That's putting it mildly. I was almost murdered earlier this evening."

One of the accompanying officers fished out a small spiral notepad and pen, ready to begin taking down information.

"It happened around 116th street. This SUV that was following me for several blocks plowed into me, sending my car through the barrier and into the bay."

"How did you escape?"

The four of them all looked toward the corridor where Cat emerged, wearing her newly-acquired blue dress. It was really becoming against her bright red hair. Jade took advantage of the momentary distraction and made her way toward the bedroom to take her own shower.

"This is Cat Valentine, the one who pulled me from the car. I bet she can fill in the blanks. I will be a few minutes."

Something told Jade that the three policemen would no doubt hang on her every word.

* * *

Leopold Kermer sat in his chair, looking out at the darkening Kinopolis skyline. He never passed up an opportunity to witness the millions of artificial lights filling the void, giving the city a new life. He shakily poured a fifth of brandy in one of his square tumblers. He preferred it on the rocks but he had forgotten to fill the ice cube tray this morning. There was a lot on Leopold's mind today, hence his drink while still at the office.

He snapped out of his thoughts when his phone rang. Recognizing the number, marked in his contacts as Restricted, he answered. He purposefully gave his man that listing in his phone to give the illusion that it was some telemarketer.

"Yes," Kermer answered.

"It's done," the voice on the other line said.

Leopold breathed heavily through his nostrils.

"Did you check the body?"

There was a long pause.

"Now how would you like me to do that? She's at the bottom of the river."

The suited man massaged the bridge of his nose. He felt one of his signature migraines was on the horizon. He just knew.

"Were there any witnesses?"

"I don't think so. She must have caught wind I was following her, she began taking the back streets."

Leopold nodded. He was one to delegate matters that was beneath his station, but there was that relying on other people part. His method was micromanaging those under him and alongside him to insure the deed was carried out. Here, he had to take his guy's word for it.

Time would tell until she was missed. And even then it would be days until they find her; maybe longer than that.

His ducks were all in a row, but he had to wait until the right moment to strike.

"Alright," he told his hired goon. "Are you on the corner of Schneider and Weiner?"

"Yeah."

"A bicycle messenger will come meet you in less than twenty minutes. He will hand you an envelope and that will be your payment in full. Do not attempt to contact me again."

Kermer hung up his cell for the last time. He was prepared to crush it in the garbage disposal at home and get rid of the remnants. Then first thing in the morning, he will be at the phone store to get a new one. He had to cover his tracks. Leopold could not allow any foul-ups.

* * *

Jade had taken Cat down to her car where the intrepid Randy stood there waiting.

"Evening, Jade" he nodded, also taking notice of Cat. He definitely never saw her before. "And who do we have here?"

"This is Cat; a very recent friend of mine."

Randy smiled and took off his hat.

"Well if you don't mind my saying so, the pair of you will turn heads this evening."

Jade's simple black cocktail dress was as understated as Cat's blue dress in her opinion.

"Allow me," Randy added, opening the door to let the ladies in. He gave Jade a knowing glance and she quickly shot it down with a shaking of the head.

They were taken to one of the most prestigious restaurants in all of Kinopolis, Ramses. The whole place was adorned in a mixture of ancient Egyptian designs and art deco; like the perfect 1920's fever dream. The floors were a glorious black marble which were complimented by tall golden pillars throughout. And there was hardly any wall to speak of. The main dining area was constructed much like a greenhouse but sturdier with this absolutely marvelous glass. It felt like an antiquated temple from long ago.

Cat wasn't sure if she could have her breath taken away any more than it already had today.

"Yes, Ms. West" the hostess lit up. "For two this time?"

"Uh-huh," Jade nodded.

"Well, right this way, please."

As they were led through the sea of tables, Cat's nervousness subsided a little about her dress when she saw how the majority of the patrons were in far more fancy attire. There were hardly any woman without pearls, earrings and a ring (all of them matching) nor were there many men without cummerbunds and cuff links.

Upon sitting down, Cat's face dropped when she picked up her menu and looked inside.

"Yikes."

"What?" asked Jade, looking up from her menu.

"It's...really expensive here."

Jade gave her a look.

"I got this, its okay."

Cat was looking uncomfortable in her chair. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah?"

"Is this a date?"

Jade blinked like her eyes had anything to do with her ability to hear.

"I'm sorry?"

Cat leaned in to whisper.

"I mean I heard the rumors but that sort of thing never mattered to me. It's your life, it's your business..."

"Cat..."

"Like, that's fine if that's who you are but I'm not. Not to say you're ugly..."

" _Cat_..."

"You're actually very attractive. I mean if I was teetering, maybe bi-curious - I ju..."

Holding her hands up, Jade just had to interrupt. "Whoa, whoa, whoa...just hang on, Cat. This isn't anything like that, trust me. We're just friends."

Her cheeks began to compliment her hair as Cat sat back down, wishing she had never brought it up.

"Sorry about that," she contritely said.

"It's fine," Jade shook her head. "Really." She then picked up a glass of red wine and swirled it before taking a sip. Jade let the sound of her sipping linger and absorbed the complexities as it sailed down her throat. "Besides, you ain't exactly my type, shorty."

The redhead folded her arms and gave a grimace akin to her new friend.

"I can't believe someone would want to drown you."

"This is going to be one of the greatest friendships of all time, I can tell" Jade smiled, raising her glass.

Cat just shrugged and muttered a "what the hell" and clinked glasses with Jade. This was a new experience for her, not certain that she was the strangest person in the room.

* * *

 **A/N: How is that for an unlikely way to have run into the person who would be your next best friend?**

 **Stay tuned for part 3 soon. Not to worry, this story will be a good long one.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: It's great to see some new faces in the reviews.**

 **Glad to see everyone is on board with this one.**

* * *

The board of directors were seated as per usual for the Wednesday morning briefing. Alex West always felt having such things at the beginning or end of the work week was counterproductive judging from his research in other companies. He made a point to study other entities as his Westbound Enterprises began to grow in size. Alex wanted to avoid the pitfalls of companies that were either no longer active or had lost their way in the eyes of the public.

Leopold Kermer sat in his chair, a lot less confused than the other nine men. They were curious how it was twenty minutes after 10 and Jade West still had not arrived. He knew her tardiness would eventually be revealed as a result of her untimely death. The disjointed fools were going to need leadership in these troubling times and as the most senior executive at the company, he would be the successor to the title of CEO if Alex's heiress would step down.

But he knew Jade was her father's daughter. Tough as nails and just as sharp when faced with opposition. She adored her father and had enough business sense to be a worthy successor to his legacy. With all of that put into consideration, it was clear that for Leopold to get his opportunity, Ms. West would have to suffer an unfortunate accident.

"Sorry I'm late, gentlemen."

 _That voice._

Kermer first shifted his eyes to the left and soon turned his head in the same direction. He gawked in complete disbelief.

It wasn't a ghost. Or a delusion.

Jade walked in dressed in her favorite black business suit with her hair up. She pulled up her chair at the head of the long table in the conference room. Jade had five of the directors to her left and five to the right. And Leopold was at her immediate right.

"The past 24 hours have been...interesting to say the least."

She looked at the faces of the men around the table and didn't feel like going into detail with her swan dive into the bay.

"I have some matters that need to be taken care of, so I'll keep this briefing...well...brief."

Jade turned to a clean shaven executive to her left.

"Sheldon, how is the Bangkok project coming along?"

The man shuffled through papers in his manila folder. "Yes, we have secured the necessary permits from the local government. Hoping to break ground in a month."

"Good," Jade nodded. "Any other updates?" she asked the rest of the board.

An older gentlemen seated next to Kermer chimed in.

"Our new HMO is drawing some complaints. I have at least two dozen employees who tried to get prescriptions filled and the prices are ridiculous, even with the generic substitutes."

"What are our options?" Jade asked. "I mean can we switch back to Lourdes?"

"We could but the reason we switched carriers in the first place is the cost went up for them."

"By how much?"

He cleared his throat. "About a mill five."

Jade nodded.

"If we pay the increase, employees' rates won't be affected, right?"

"That's right," the older fellow nodded.

"Do it then."

Kermer leaned in, "Ms. West, if I may, the cost..."

"Can easily be absorbed," Jade interrupted. "It's important, Leopold. If we want to keep our people coming in to work, they need to be taken care of."

The murmurs among the board sounded like they were all in agreement. Mostly.

"Anything else?" Jade asked, checking the time on her phone.

Leopold tapped the table with his fingernail, which the acoustics of the room picked up rather well to everyone's discomfort.

"There is," he said, opening his briefcase. "We were in talks with your father...may he rest in peace..." The other directors nodded. "About the plan to have Westbound Enterprises go public. As a listed company, we would be one of the most commanding entities in the stock market."

"I'm sorry," Jade held up her hand. "But the answer is still no."

Kermer sat even more uneasily in his chair.

"Jade, just because your father did not trust being a traded company doesn't mean we have to continue like this. I mean, there are interests that will not deal with us unless we were a publicly traded firm."

One executive at the far end of the left added, "It does seem a little odd that a company of our size is still private."

Jade kindly acknowledged the timid man and his point but turned her focus back to Kermer, who was clearly leading the charge on this issue.

"Yes, my father _did_ have his reasons and I'm inclined to agree. If we go public, then we are at the mercy of the shareholders. What if they are unsatisfied with the profits and they push for us laying off a thousand people? Or maybe polluting the environment because toxic materials are less costly. At least if we keep the decision-making and the direction of operations between us, we can ensure a level of quality. The number one thing a company could do wrong is to compromise. I'm sorry, Leopold but I'd rather we invest in ideas and people. Not profits and kickbacks."

Jade wanted to drive her point home, not only to bring these matters to a close but also to establish herself as the one in charge. Given her age and being a woman, a CEO like her is without precedent, so she knew she had her work cut out for her to make it clear she was the alpha, for lack of a better term. This room full of older men must be made aware of that. She wanted to ensure stability to the loyal ones and provide a mild warning to potential defectors.

"Westbound Enterprises takes care of its own, from the highest offices down to the people who clean the floors. If you want a good workforce and a growing consumer base, you must have morale and loyalty. When my father made his own fortune, he was able to see the higher echelons of society and didn't like how disproportionate wealth is in this country. Years ago, the head of a company only made twenty times what an entry level employee made. You could live on what you made. I don't know about any of you but I wouldn't feel right about taking a multi-million dollar bonus for myself if the people working for me have to struggle to make ends meet."

Jade stood, preparing to dismiss the meeting and leave.

"We are a great success and only getting better. Everyone in this room have something to be proud of. But only if we stay the course and keep outside forces from corrupting our principles."

The men began talking among themselves as Jade left the boardroom. Leopold glared at her with contempt.

 _"This woman is shaping up to be quite the pest,"_ he thought as he took out his phone intently. _"I need a professional and not some punk to carry this out. But I have to do this right."_

* * *

"SIKOWITZ!"

Her voice bounced back to her in the echo chamber bathed in florescent lights. The scientist who worked constantly in these catacombs practically lived here. Jade remembered a conversation between him and her father about how he ought to start taking vitamin C tablets if he is going to habitually avoid the sun.

Shaking her head at how the silly but brilliant man was always a fixture in her life, Jade's eye caught something in a glass case.

Coming closer to the table, the object inside the case looked like some kind of metallic cube. Jade had never seen something so strange before. She lifted the glass covering and placed it carefully aside. Her narrow fingers caressed the side of the thing. It was cold to the touch. Then she wondered how much it might weigh, whatever it was. Jade picked it up with both hands, eliciting an audible grunt from her. The box about the size of a soccer ball had some heft to it.

Jade began to turn the cube in every possible angle to see if there was any buttons or switches or openings until...the form dissolved in her hands like it melted away. Her confusion turned to fear when the mass enveloped her hands and quickly worked its way up her arms and torso. It was already getting down to her legs when she began screaming her lungs out. But the shock of how cold the object now surrounding her was hitching her breath.

Panic filled her as one of the reflective doors of storage revealed her whole body being consumed by the dark metal. It was like being stuck in a nightmare that she couldn't wake up, as if some futuristic remake of the Blob was real and claiming its next victim. Jade dropped to her knees, holding her now covered hands up to her face as the seemingly alive mass was about to swallow up her whole head.

And moments after everything went dark, light pierced through the void and Jade could see. In fact, the charcoal-colored mass began to hastily recede from her body. She held her neck, relieved to be breathing normally again but was no less shaken than she was a few seconds ago.

Jade's mouth lay open as the element reformed as a cube once more in the hands of Dr. Erwin Sikowitz. He was wearing a strange pair of glasses but that was the least of her questions at the moment.

"Jade West," he smirked while giving his best voice of authority. "Didn't your father teach you not to touch anything without asking?"

The balding man in a lab coat gently put down the metal cube and offered his hand to bring Jade back up to her feet.

"Are you alright?"

She yelled "What the **fuck** was that thing? And why did it try to **kill me**?"

Sikowitz chuckled and shook his head, "Nope. Actually, it was protecting you."

"Excuse me?" Jade asked.

"Have a look at this," he said, picking up the cube and taking it over to one of his microscopes. Sikowitz had to make some minor adjustments so that the cube would fit underneath the tool. "Look through this and tell me what you see?"

Jade cautiously approached the microscope and peered inside the eyepiece.

Now she could see what was almost invisible through the naked eye. That was why the cube was solid one minute and almost liquid the next. It was actually comprised of hundreds, if that, of much smaller bits.

"What are these things?"

"Nanobots," Sikowitz replies.

There was a long pause as Jade made sure her focus on the image was clear.

"These are tiny robots?" she gasped.

Sikowitz yawned before confirming "You bet."

"But why were they attacking me? And wh-why are they like this now? Are they always like a cube?"

The middle-aged scientist sat down on a stool and sighed.

"Okay, first they weren't, second that is their default mode and third yes."

Jade felt even more confused than ever so Sikowitz obliged.

"About five years ago, your dad came up with an idea for a new kind of armor for the military. This protection would form fit to the user, like a protective cocoon but still render them able to do simple tasks like walk. Each and every one of the nanobots has a rigid back that always faces away from the wearer - THAT is the shield. Its virtually indestructible."

"Why did I never hear about this?" Jade queried.

"Well, your father did attempt to bring this invention to the attention of the army. But..."

Jade raised an eyebrow "But?"

Sikowitz sighed and shook his head. "They thought to manufacture such an armor, even on a massive scale, would not affect the cost. Guaranteeing ten out of ten men coming home to their families apparently was more expensive than only nine out of ten surviving. I guess a soldier's life is only worth so much to some people."

Things like that, Jade knew, reinforced her father's mistrust of the government.

"Did he give up on it and that's why its been down here?"

"Not at all, he's been tinkering with the software here and there, trying to make it more user friendly." Sikowitz then handed the glasses to Jade. "That's where the both of us developed these. He didn't want the armor to fall into the wrong hands. So imagine you were a diplomat in some foreign nation and you were attacked? As long as you had the armor nearby, it would instantly protect you. But these glasses were absolutely necessary because only with these can the nanobots be under your control. If you tried to tamper with them, like a thief, then it would kind of immobilize you until the authorities arrived. Remember that car that electrocuted hijackers?"

Jade nodded and remembered about how the inventor of that security system tried selling his idea to her dad. Alex turned him down so he went off on his own. He got so sued when the first person died and it was the owner of the vehicle.

Then Sikowitz chuckled.

"I suppose my little friends didn't know you were Friend and not foe."

Jade took a long look at the cube, still transfixed on what a brilliant technology it held. But that wasn't why she originally came down here.

"Something on your mind, Jade?"

"This..." she ran over to retrieve the leather case. "My dad left me this but I don't have the key. Have you seen this before?"

The scientist examined the satchel carefully but made a face of indifference.

"Can't say I've seen this before, to be honest."

"You wouldn't happen to have a way of opening this would you?" Jade asked.

Sikowitz scratched his five o'clock shadow, thinking.

"Let's give it an x-ray" Sikowitz quipped before sprinting off with the bag. Jade was in hot pursuit.

"Sikowitz, what are you doing?"

"Jade, I've known your father since college. Nothing is as they appear."

He threw the bag on a conveyor belt and grabbed Jade by the hand, leading her to a viewing screen. Its an x-ray much like they use at an airport. Being a company such as this, mail and packages periodically get screened fir anything threatening.

The computer beeped and a red box showed on the screen an object of interest inside the bag.

"Alex, you son of a bitch," he shook his head, smiling.

"What?"

Sikowitz pointed to the highlighted space on the screen. "See that? There's a small but sophisticated booby trap in this baby. If you tried to pick the lock, it would trigger the gizmo here, causing a small fire. Nothing a fire extinguisher or a simple smothering couldn't stop but the contents of the satchel would be completely destroyed. Looks to me like some papers and a little box. Possibly a memory stick."

Once the satchel came out the other side, he cautiously handed it back to Jade.

"I don't know what's in here, Jade. But apparently your father must only trust you with it..."

"...because I have the key?" she interrupted.

"No, well yes, but whatever is in this leather bag is so important your father would rather see it destroyed than allowing it to be taken by the wrong people."

Now Jade wasn't sure if she wanted to find this key or not. She knew she was very fortunate, as many sons and daughters are left behind with debts and bad memories and unresolved issues. But in the wake of Jade's grieving, she's been finding plenty to keep her mind distracted. Almost as if Alex West knew his only child would rather be busy than sitting somewhere crying.

Jade thanked Sikowitz and abruptly left, satchel in her grasp.

* * *

Returning to her apartment in Westbound Tower, Jade was taken aback when she saw a bouquet of fifty roses placed in the foyer. There was a little white card taped to the vase, which she removed to read.

"Sorry for your loss, my rose. Rest assured I will always be close by. Love - B."

Jade turned over the card but it revealed no additional information.

"Who the fuck is 'B'?"

She quickly searched her memory banks and came up empty with any names that would start with B. In the pit of her stomach, she felt uneasy. What if this person was somebody she had never met before? The language of this card makes it sound like this admirer apparently was pining for her for some time. Jade opened her front door and really looked at her panoramic view of Kinopolis. Just outside her windows were several skyscrapers that easily could look into her living room or bedroom with the proper equipment.

Jade picked up her house remote, which controlled everything from the lights and security system. Her finger pushed the button for the shades and within seconds the breathtaking view vanished and Jade let out a breath of relief. Maybe tomorrow she will make some calls and get estimates on tinted windows for her place. And maybe a bodyguard.

She was rich, somewhat famous, and easy on the eyes. A stalker would not be that outlandish.

After bringing the flowers inside and placing them on the dining room table, Jade locked up and activated her security system with the remote.

* * *

It was one in the morning, and Jade was past out from another tiresome search for that elusive key.

Whatever she was dreaming about was enough to lull her from the nightmare brewing in front of her closed eyes.

A shadowy figure emerged from the door, moving as silently as a leaf in the breeze.

The green LED display from Jade's alarm clock was reflected in the sheen of the long knife unsheathed from the stranger's pocket. The masked assassin was now as the edge of the bed, a slumbering Jade laying right below. All the mysterious intruder could see was the shape of a person sleeping. A black gloved hand tugged on the top sheet and pulled back on it slowly with the left hand. And while this was going on, the right hand was poised and ready to strike.

The right hand immediately hesitated just when the left dropped the bed sheet.

She was the most beautiful thing these tired eyes had ever seen. And she looked so serene and vulnerable. That seemingly added to her allure.

Suddenly, the alarm was triggered and blaring sounds coupled with flashing lights forced the assassin to vanish into the night.

Jade jumped awake at the cacophony of her security system. She then noticed the open window, white curtains billowing inward from the night air.

"Shit!" she said, worried that whatever intruder was still around.

Seeing nothing in her bedroom, she grabbed a baseball bat from under her bed and burst out the door. Jade let the heavy end of the wooden bat drop to the floor with a clunk. Jade saw the remote and deactivated the alarm.

 ** _"What are you doing here?"_**

Two security guards from the building were standing in her living room.

"Sorry, ma'am" one of them replied. "But our surveillance picked up on an outside signal tampering with your security alarm."

Jade's eyes widened "WHAT?"

The second guard stepped forward. "So the second we noticed it, we jammed the signal and that must have triggered your system."

The pale woman clutched her chest, now completely losing grip on the baseball bat.

 _"Someone **was** in here."_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Please excuse my lateness on this new chapter. This past week has been insanity with work being crazy busy and I just got over being the sickest I've been in a long time.**

 **Part of my recovery was spent finally watching _Gravity Falls_. I'm up to episode 13 of season two, so please no spoilers!**

 **See you next time for part 5**

* * *

Landing hard on the shorter building adjacent to Westbound Tower, the intruder pressed a button disengaging the connecting cable for the zip line to create the escape. Fortunately, the grappling mechanism that attached to the floor below the bedroom window of Jade West left no mark clear to the naked eye. The sophisticated machine was relatively small and lightweight; ideal for a professional who had to be here and gone in an instant.

Feeling secure, the assassin removed her mask to breathe easier. The wind kicked up, blowing her long brown hair away from her face. She was objectively beautiful beyond compare but upon closer inspection, you could see a couple faint scars beginning to heal. No doubt they were quite painful to receive.

There were worse ones underneath her clothing. And even deeper ones inside her mind that likely may never heal.

The sound of sirens in the distance was her cue to take leave. She had her work cut out for her now; no doubt this West woman would strengthen her defenses which would make getting to her even more improbable.

* * *

Cat jolted awake at the sound of her ringtone. She practically fell out of bed when she reached to answer it. The brightness of the screen made her squint but she managed to recognize the caller as Jade.

"Jade?" the redhead yawned. "What's up? It's like...four in the morning."

"Look, I'm sorry Cat but its been a strange night. My apartment was broken into."

That sobered up the woman and made her sit up to keep from drifting back to sleep.

"WHAT? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I guess. Someone disabled the security system and got as far as my bedroom. I was asleep and someone was that close to me."

The thought of something like that happening to her made her stomach turn, to be within inches of a stranger and having no idea. Cat has been alone many times; whose to say one of those times she really wasn't?

Cat disconnected the phone from the charger and stood up, stretching. She slept little last night but it was better than the night before, still suffering from swimmers ear after diving into the river. It was so agitating that she went to the doctor, who obligingly pumped out the liquid with a massive syringe that looked like something from the late nineteenth century. It was intense but it did the trick.

Eyes half open, she started digging through her chest of drawers to find something to wear.

"Look it, I'll be at your place soon. Okay?"

There was a pause before Jade answered.

"What? No, I'm actually not on the thirtieth floor. More like the sixteenth."

Cat shook her head. "That's the lab, isn't it?"

She had never been there herself but her job made knowing the different areas of Westbound Tower necessary. You had your bottom floors, which were open to the public during specific hours. After dark, only authorized personnel were allowed in the building. Several floors up was some office space, mostly empty. Then you got to floors fourteen through sixteen, which were all research and development. Only those working for Westbound Enterprises with special clearance were permitted inside. Then above that were more stories of offices and then from the twenty-fifth floor upward was all private residences.

About half of the executives lived in these quarters and many other low level employees. Someone from say the mail room could live in an apartment for a competitive rate since they were working for the company. It was far less expensive than finding real estate on one's own. It also promoted punctuality and attendance across the board, since your only commute was an elevator and very little walking. And since your commute was almost non-existent, it gave employees with children and spouses time to be with them. To Jade, family was paramount.

* * *

In less than an hour, Cat was making her way down the corridor toward the lab on floor 16. She was given an access key card by the doorman, on Jade's orders, to let herself in. The redhead scanned the room, looking for her friend. She smiled, knowing just how to draw her out from whatever she was doing.

"I brought coffee!" she declared, holding up the Styrofoam carrier with four steaming cups in it.

Cat's ears perked up at the sound of small but rapidly approaching footsteps.

"Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme..." the brunette chanted, snagging a hot beverage. She was about to take a sip before turning to Cat. "Two sugars?"

"I remembered," Cat growled. "Don't test me, I'm still half dead."

Jade snickered, "That's why you bought four coffees I see?"

Cat shrugged. "I figured neither of us got the sleep we needed. So, what brings you in here?"

Walking a few feet, Jade picked up her pad and handed it to Cat.

"See that?"

"Yeah, so?" Cat asked.

"I've been tinkering with the software, making little improvements."

"On what?"

Jade smirked and pointed to the encased dark cube.

"On that!"

Cat found a stool and sat down, resting her face onto her arm.

"You woke me up and brought me all the way down here to see that?"

"You know what this is?" Jade asked.

"The second biggest external hard drive I've ever seen?"

Jade scoffed and opened the glass case.

"I'll just have to show you. Hand me those glasses near you."

Cat raised her head, noticed the odd-looking spectacles and handed them to Jade. The brunette placed them on her face, making her look even more like a mad scientist, and then fished the heavy cube out of the case and put it gently on the floor beside her foot.

"Get ready for this, Valentine. Just don't freak out."

The redhead made horizontal circles with her finger, holding her deadpan expression.

Swallowing hard in anticipation, Jade said to herself "Here we go."

In mere seconds, the cube disassembled and began grafting onto Jade's feet and climbing upward. Cat fell completely off her stool and landed on the cold hard floor. She shouted both in pain at her hind end as well in terror at what was currently enveloping her friend.

Before she knew it, Jade was encased in a humanoid shell of black metal.

"Jade..." Cat asked nervously.

The "helmet" portion came down, revealing Jade's own head. Her expression was okay and physically she seemed fine.

Cat rose to her feet and approached Jade, who looked like she was cosplaying as sexy TinMan.

"What is this?" she asked, shaking.

Jade replied, "An armor my dad designed. One of the last things he was working on before he died. Nobody else knows about this."

"Except me," came a voice.

"Fuck!" Cat blurted out, almost falling on her keister again.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sikowitz asked, sipping a coconut. He took notice of Jade's current appearance. "Ah, Jade. Just can't leave that thing alone, can you?"

"Yeah, well I need it" she said.

Sikowitz took a sip that sounded like his tropical treat was running dry and threw it in the trash can.

"I heard about the break-in. Are you okay?"

Jade groaned. It was only the thousandth time someone asked her that question in the last few hours. She knew she had about everybody at work to look forward to that day to ask her the same.

"I _will_ be, Sikowitz. When you show me how to really use this thing."

"I don't know Jade..." he said, shaking his head.

"Listen!" Jade scowled. "This tower is built like a fortress and yet somebody came in and could have killed me. Screw bodyguards; I want to protect myself."

Sikowitz sighed, knowing when Jade West makes up her mind, nothing on this earth can stop her.

"Alright, let's do this."

* * *

Leopold had a really lousy night, trying to sleep. Hopefully, he could rest easier knowing that thorn in his side was finally done away with.

Sipping his freshly-brewed latte, he ambled into his empty living room like he always did.

This morning, however, was on a less than ordinary day.

 **"Leopold..."**

The voice was so authoritative, like a crossed teacher and it belonged to someone not hidden in the shadows but rather one with the darkness. Like a monster. How is it this woman managed to embody both extremes of a child's fears rolled up into one.

He dropped his mug, smashing it into dozens of porcelain bits. The older man's sudden yelp and the crash of his morning brew didn't shake up the mysterious female. She had a customized IMI Jericho 941 pointed right at him with a modified laser sight. But from this distance, it was woefully unnecessary. The marksman liked to relish the frightened expressions on her prey. Nobody liked having that red dot on their person.

People on the dark web, who looked for an assassin, and those on the streets in the know (mostly mob) whispered rumors about this woman. She was only reachable on an untraceable prepaid mobile phone. And obtaining her number wasn't a simple task. She never revealed her identity to anyone, letting those willing to do business with her to refer to her as Dark Justice. Kermer thought it was a bit of an odd name but he wasn't one to argue about such things. More pressing matters were at hand.

"D-d-d-did I f-f-f-forget to sign the check?" he stammered, vainly attempting to break the tension.

The slender gloved hand held up the aforementioned check while the other hand kept the pistol right on him.

"You can keep your money," the woman known as Dark Justice said, crumpling up the small yellow paper and flinging it where it bounded off Leopold's chest. "I'm out."

"She's still _alive_?" his annoyance making his apprehension take a backseat.

Dark Justice gave the thumbs up, "You're a clever one, Leo."

"Hey, I hired you to do a job. You can't just walk away from a job! I thought you were a professional..."

The cocking of a gun made him shut up.

"Hold it," the woman warned. "I'd be careful what words I choose next."

This stubborn man was having it up to here from women giving him the business.

"Now you listen..."

A silenced shot blew past him, he felt the wind of its trajectory. The errant bullet annihilated the mason jar of sugar on the kitchen table and became embedded in the wall right beside the fridge.

"HOLY SHIT!" he exclaimed.

"No YOU listen!" Dark Justice spat, rising to her feet. "You requested my services. And until the deed is carried out, I can cancel the arrangement at any time. My reasons are none of your concern. And since I clearly didn't take your money, I don't owe you jack-fucking-shit!"

Leopold wisely sat on the sofa, making the physical gesture that he wasn't going to be a threat. He knows she can and will kill him right then and there.

"By the way, I did my own research on Ms. West after the fact. Turns out she's a hell of a human being. Treats her workers fine, donates to dozens of charities and stays the hell out of politics. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Now if everyone with money and power were a fraction of the person she is, the world wouldn't be such a hellhole. So, explain to me why you wanted me to kill one of the good ones?"

They both knew the answer.

"Kind of makes you wonder which one of us is the real heartless bastard," she quipped.

"So what are you gonna do?" he asked.

She let the gun linger a little longer in his direction and slowly dropped it, keeping her finger on the trigger if need be.

"I'm going to leave and this whole thing between you and Jade West is closed. I should turn you in for conspiracy to commit murder; I just have to send the police our recorded conversation making the deal."

"That bitch."

"But lucky for you I'm feeling magnanimous this morning. That's why I'm gonna let you go."

Dark Justice raised her firearm once more and kept it on Kermer as she walked toward his window with a fire escape outside.

"I promise you, if you attack Jade West for any reason...I will be back. Remember, I know _all_ about you and you don't know a damn thing about me. You're a man of high position. I'm but a phantom."

With that, she exited the window with great speed. By the time Leopold ran to it to look outside, she was already gone. Like she wasn't even here.

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. He didn't want to drop this but he wasn't being given much choice. It was the perfect crime. Leopold arranged for anonymous flowers to be sent to Jade's apartment, complete with a love note. The language on the note strongly suggests a longtime admirer. And that leading up to her murder by stabbing; it had the makings of the perfect high profile murder. A psychotic stalker feels unrequited and decided to purge his fixation by killing what he loved. And in a city of this size and considering how rich and powerful and attractive she was; people like Jade West had to have a long list of enemies. She just had to.

It could have been anybody. They probably would never catch the killer ever. Jade West would be another unsolved murder.

And now it looks like he had to walk away from the whole thing.

"Damn it all." He looked out the window at the city that was just waking up. "This isn't over."

* * *

Its been a grueling few hours, getting acquainted with the armor. The more time she wore it, the more comfortable Jade became. Over time she tried experimenting with getting the nanobots to do other things for her than just the standard shield. When she concentrated, Jade could make other shapes appears in her hands. She even tried removing a small bunch of the bots, where they formed into a small ball and threw it. The metal ball did a 360 around the room and came right back to Jade's grasp. And upon touching, the ball was absorbed into the armor. These nanobots were not only strong but as resilient as water.

"How's it feeling?" Sikowitz asked.

"I'm strangely getting used to having it on me," Jade replied. "Like its another skin."

"Ready for a test?"

Jade nodded and turned to Cat.

"Pick up that gun and shoot me."

The redhead blinked. "What?"

"We need to see if the armor is strong enough."

Cat looked at her tired "You can't be serious."

Sikowitz turned to her.

"Look, I don't like it anymore than you but we need to know."

"Why can't _you_ do it?" Cat asked.

"I need to be minding the commander computer," Sikowitz explained. "If ANY of those nanobots goes rogue I need to quickly take care of the situation."

Cat muttered to herself as she picked up the handgun with both hands and shakily held it upwards.

"I don't want to do this," she whined.

"It's okay Cat," Jade assured her. "My dad knew what he was doing. I trust him that it will work but I need to experience what getting shot will feel like. Can I stand the force? I don't know but we have to try."

"Oh, man." Cat felt like she was going to throw up.

Sikowitz and Jade both shouted "SHOOT!"

The redhead yelped like a puppy that got scared as she pulled the trigger. Within a second, both women were on the linoleum floor. Sikowitz was pretty sure that the kickback of the gun would send a petite like Cat off her feet. That and being a total amateur when it came to weapons.

Cat rolled over onto her side, rubbing her elbow.

"Ouchie," she grunted. Her eyes peered at her friend who was down for the count. "Oh, God Jade!"

The brunette lifted her head, her hand holding the back of it. When she fell backwards from the sheer force of the bullet, Jade must have smacked the back of her noggin. "Goddamn, my head!"

"Well?" Sikowitz queried.

Jade reached into her chest and pulled out the stopped bullet, almost preserved but clearly smashed from hitting the impenetrable shield.

"Jade?" Cat called.

"Yeah," she sighed in reply.

"Don't ever ask me to do something like that again."

Jade chuckled, "No problem."

Sikowitz clapped his hands together.

"That was fun. Who's hungry for some breakfast? I'm thinking pancakes!"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry this one took a while. I re-wrote it twice so it would be just right. I almost had it once and then found it contradicted something I wanted to touch on down the road. So back to the drawing board.**

 **BTW, I** **Just finished the show** ** _Gravity Falls_** **and was floored by the finale. BTW, I ship WENDIP for life! haha**

 **That show was so creative and smart and funny; I think we all wish to one day make something that awesome. Maybe I'll try my hand at a story but first this.**

 **Thanks for your patience, again my health not making me get this out to you faster.**

 **OH AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN**

 **Love ya!**

* * *

After a much-needed rest and something to eat, Jade and Cat took the elevator to the roof where a private helicopter was waiting for them.

"This is a bit much, don't you think?" Cat asked. "We're just going uptown."

"At the rate traffic looks down there, this'll be faster. Besides, didn't you say there was a baseball field near your building?"

"But what if there's kids playing?" she protested.

Jade shot back with "Then they ought to be in school."

The rotors began with a loud whirring, causing a great wind to pick up. The two women held down their hair so that they could see, hoping they wouldn't be snagged on anything mechanical.

When all was said and done, Jade felt bad about dragging a half-asleep Cat out of bed and asking her to drive across town for this insanity. She's been a dear friend from the very outset and Jade would be damned if she didn't make it up to her. They were helped into the cabin by the pilot, who made sure the hatch was locked and got into the cockpit.

"Take the rest of the day off and a couple more on top of that," Jade told Cat. "With pay. And I don't want to see you again until Thursday morning."

"You really don't have to do this Jade," Cat smiled.

Jade smirked. "Yes I do because...oof!"

She never got used to that rocking when the copter did its takeoff. Cat instinctively fastened her seat belt and Jade soon followed.

Meanwhile, on the building across the way; a massive construction crane was working on an addition to the Alcott Building when it unwittingly disturbed a bunch of pigeons. The dozen or so birds cooed wildly and flew toward the crane operator. The commotion flustered the man, making him accidentally push buttons in his frenzy. The behemoth span completely out of control, with its half ton steel girder in tow.

With an erroneous flip of the switch, the girder was released from the crane's grip mid-swing and flew head-on into the rotors of the Westbound Enterprises helicopter taking off. In a flash of fire and smoke, the vessel began to tremble and tumble helplessly like a toy thrown by the child that owned it.

Jade and Cat held on, screaming as the pilot tried in vain to seize control of the copter. But with the rotors out of commission, they were a slave to gravity.

Suddenly, they landed with such force the pilot smacked his head on the window and was out cold.

"What happened?" Cat wondered, her whole body tense.

Looking out the window, she could see that they crashed down halfway on the edge of the roof. Fortunately, they didn't drift too far from their point of origin.

Jade looked at the floor, where her backpack spilled out its cargo: the cube.

The two friends shared a glance, both scared out of their minds. The brunette fished the special controller glasses from her inner jacket pocket.

"What are you thinking?"

"I have no idea," Jade replied. "But I have to do something. This might be our only shot. See the door?"

Cat's eyes quickly noticed the hatch.

"Get out but do it slowly."

"What? Why?" Cat protested.

A single tear escaped Jade's eye. "Because if this doesn't work I want somebody to walk away from this. Might as well be you. Hell, you wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for me."

The moaning of bending metal testing the stamina of the concrete roof made them both hold their breath. They were dangling over the city and the next wrong move could spell disaster.

"Go Cat!" she shout-whispered. "Now, please."

The redhead reluctantly but swiftly complied, her small frame didn't compromise the equilibrium of the helicopter's rough landing. Jade put on the glasses and hoped to whatever god might be listening that this works. She had never tried the armor without Sikowitz close by. She was flying solo, literally.

Jade leaned down, placing her hand on top of the cube which then melded with her arm and quickly consumed her form. It worked, it assembled like before. Now Jade had to figure out how to make it work for her and the unconscious pilot. While she thought of what to do, she could see Cat looking frantic as she called presumably 911.

Less than a minute and the former flying machine as well as the people inside were going to start plummeting to their doom.

Jade knew she had to think fast.

Blue-green eyes gazed at the slumped over pilot.

"That's it," she said to herself.

Cat was still giving information to the emergency dispatcher when she saw the copter finally teeter over and vanish from sight.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed.

The redhead ran over and her heart sank as she witnessed the copter descend to the street below, cars and pedestrians clearing out of the way of the horrible wreckage. It landed with a fiery explosion. The phone fell out of her limp hand as she began to weep.

She cursed herself living and leaving Jade to die.

"CAAAAAAAT!" came a voice that echoed.

The young woman held her head, dropping to her knees.

"Oh, dear god. I'm hearing voices."

She briefly entertained the idea that her guilt was manifesting itself into insanity. Until she heard it again.

"CAT, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!"

She got up and cautiously approached the roof's edge, not sure what to expect. Much to the disbelief of her own eyes, Cat saw her friend handing from the building, only mostly covered in the black armor. And dangling from beneath her was the pilot, safely secure in a makeshift metallic sling.

"You're alive!" Cat's face lit up.

"No, my corpse is climbing the building!" Jade sarcastically retorted. "Now help me, this guy is fucking heavy!"

* * *

In between two billboards, the brown-haired woman from the other night witnessed the whole thing. This space was like a deer blind in a tree but suited for the urban jungle. From this vantage, the woman known in certain circles as Dark Justice could keep a watchful eye on a particular lady that she had recently become smitten. And also protective.

When she saw the helicopter become disabled, her mind was blank with what she could have done. But miraculously, Jade West and the others survived. Apparently, Jade had this strange dark suit that could morph into other things at will. In her line of work, she had her finger on the pulse in all manner of weapons but this baffled her completely. Not only was Jade in possession of an experimental technology but was aware of how to use it.

Now, she was really grateful that West was no longer considered a target. Getting close to her to harm her would be more of a challenge. Though, the tan woman admitted to herself that she would trade in every bullet she owned for one of cupid's arrows if she could.

"This is driving me crazy," she said. "I have to see her."

Digging out her wallet, the assassin flipped through her manufactured ID's that she used to different situations over the years...Lola Martinez, Jane Harmon, Lindy Sampson, Shelby Marx, Wren DeSantis...

"No," she said, shoving them back in. "No lies."

 _"If you want a chance to be with Jade, you have to come clean."_

Looking down below at the hundreds of people, witnesses and emergency personnel, it was a circus. Its now or never for the opportunity to slip in, leave a message for Jade and disappear.

* * *

Leopold paced back and forth in his office, oblivious to the calamity that occurred on the south side of the building. But the growing noise caused by the sirens of police, fire and EMT's was too big to ignore. He peered outside his window and immediately recognized Jade's private copter engulfed in smoke.

He was genuinely surprised. After all his scheming, the little bitch met her end in a freak accident. Like father like daughter.

"Maybe the West family should steer clear of the friendly skies, eh?" he chuckled out loud. "Not so friendly to that lot."

Leopold briskly walked through the panicked employees rushing to see the extent of the problem. At first, the workers thought that Westbound Tower was the target of a terrorist attack and started doing an evacuation. About half of the staff and residents were outside at this point. Joining in the crowd, Leopold obligingly fled the grounds in an orderly fashion. He knew that people would remember how cool he was under pressure, a fine quality in a CEO.

But his victory was short lived when he overheard that there were no bodies found in the copter as the firemen put out the last of the flames.

He turned around and looked up, seeing vague movement up there. He grabbed his phone and turned on the camera, which allowed him to zoom in. It was grainy from where he stood but it was unmistakably Jade West and her friend talking with police.

Leopold gritted his teeth in disgust.

 ** _"Why won't you DIE?"_**

* * *

"Now I know why your name is Cat," Jade said as they left the elevator to the lobby. "Apparently when I'm next to you I benefit from your nine lives."

"Jade if its all the same to you, I think I'll take a cab home."

Jade looked at her apologetically.

"I'm not angry with you" Cat assured her. "But I'm a little funned out."

The brunette waved down a cab for her friend.

"I guess this makes us even, huh?"

Cat smirked, shaking her head. "See you Thursday. And try to not blow yourself up or something."

Jade held up her two intertwined fingers in a mock salute.

"I will do my best."

* * *

After talking with the umpteenth police officer, Jade was exhausted and asked that her secretary hold her calls. She was going to take a day herself.

"I swear the police department is going to have me on fucking speed dial from this past week."

Approaching her apartment door, there was something taped to it, below the golden numbers.

Jade opened the small note, which read: _"Meet me on the roof of the Board of Trade. Midnight."_


	6. Chapter 6

**Apologies for the lateness of this update. Work has been unrelenting and repair work at home had completely hindered me from setting up my computer and writing on it. That being said, realistically new chapters may be coming out bi-weekly for at least a little while.**

 **Usually in the colder months, things stave off at work but no; my schedule continued to be 10-12 hours every day. That and getting ready for the upcoming holidays have been stressful as well.**

 **Hopefully this one will be worth the wait. Please leave comments ;-)**

* * *

Darkness hung over the city, but you really didn't experience it until you were on the top of the Kinopolis Board of Trade. At 60 stories, it was the tallest structure in the skyline. It easily dwarfed Westbound Tower which could be seen from here when you looked east, ironically. Jade could see why this location was picked. The artificial lights that bathed the city below dwindled the further up you got and since the trading floor closed hours ago, the building was relatively vacant. With the exception of the spotlights on a few gargoyles, the roof was pitch black.

Jade knew she was going to need the armor, not just in the case that this might be a double-cross but also it was freezing up here. An extra layer didn't hurt. Tourists would be led to the observation deck and would immediately be slammed by howling winds. Strangely, though, it felt like the winds died down.

"You came."

Jade turned to see the shadowy figure turn on a battery-powered lantern.

"I figured given the time of night and our fashion sense, a little bit of light would help."

"Good idea," Jade nodded. "Now why did you ask me to meet you here?"

"This," Justice replied, tossing to Jade a manila envelope. "I'm afraid you don't know your people as well as you might think."

The armor, when serving as gloves for her hands, admittedly gave limited dexterity but she managed to open the flap and take out the papers within. Unbeknownst to her companion, Jade's eyes widened with interest and horror.

"This is Leopold Kermer," she said. "What about him?"

Justice sighed before answering. "He's been doing some shady deals. Managed to get some people to talk."

"Oh?" Jade asked.

The masked woman cracked her knuckles "I can be _very_ persuasive. Anyway, this guy's treacheries included, but are not limited to, the attempted murder of his boss."

"And how did you figure _that_ one out?"

"Because he hired me to do it," Justice replied.

"What?" Then Jade quickly put two and two together. "It was you. You were the one in my apartment, weren't you?"

Dark Justice turned away, unable to look her in the face (or mask).

"Yes," she answered softly. "I almost did it, too. But I stopped myself."

Jade just had to know.

"Why? Why didn't you kill me right then and there?"

"It's stupid."

Jade was now getting annoyed. "Excuse me?"

"Do you believe in love at first sight?"

That was not the answer she was expecting.

Justice continued, "I saw you lying there. You looked so peaceful and beautiful, I hesitated. Then the alarm went off and I had to disappear. And I'm glad that's how the chips fell. Because once I did a little research, I realized there was nothing nefarious about you. It was Kermer who was the real villain in all of this." She turned around, pulling off her mask. "Don't just look at me like that, Jade. Say something." The tan woman's eyes sparkled with the promise of tears.

Even Jade had to agree the facade was meaningless at this point. She too unfurled her disguise, ordering the nanobots to recede from her head.

"I honestly don't know what to say to a killer who not only _doesn't_ kill but says she's in love with me."

"Make no mistake, Jade" she said, slowly stepping forward. "I've killed before but I have a...criteria. Two years ago, do you remember the story of Albert Hastings?"

Jade did. He was a pedophile who almost got convicted but the cops botched the search warrant so he was let go. Then a few weeks later, he turned up dead in his home.

"Yeah, I do" Jade replied.

"Do you recall how he died; what they said in the papers?"

"The coroner said that sick piece of shit was shot 20 times."

"Nineteen," Justice corrected. "Must have mistaken an exit wound for an entrance wound."

"It was you?" Jade asked.

Justice nodded.

"How do you even remember the amount of times you shot him?"

Her face was overtaken by anger as she recalled the pervert but the tears streaming down her cheekbones showed the empathy that burned inside.

"One bullet...for...every single...child."

"Jesus." Jade held her chest, feeling like she was going to weep herself. "Who hired you?"

"One of the parents," Justice replied. "But I told him that I would do it for nothing. It wouldn't be right."

"Who _does_ pay you?"

"Mostly mobsters and low level criminals. They feel someone moving in on their territory, they hire me to take them out. Blood would shed regardless. At least when I have a target, there's no dozen or so innocent bystanders. Sorry, Jade but the gang violence in this town hasn't stopped. It just got...more efficient." Justice smirked. "The best part is that nobody knows its the same person going after them. They never see me coming. I have the two biggest gangs fighting each other behind closed doors and they have no idea."

"And nothing of value is lost?"

"Exactly."

Jade shook her head. "I just don't understand. How can you be so cavalier about human life but particular about who you kill? Who are you? _What_ are you?"

"My real name is Tori Vega. Maybe you've heard of my father, Vincenzo Vega?"

Jade's eyes widened. "The gangster?"

Tori nodded, "The same. Wasn't until I was much older that I fully understood just how feared my dad was. I just assumed, me usually being not far from him or my mother, that people were naturally polite. Turns out they were just afraid."

"What about your mother?"

"He met her on his travels. She was Puerto Rican, but strangely didn't have a whole lot of family back at the island. So when she fell for dad, he had little trouble bringing her back to the mainland. They married soon after...I've seen the photos...and less than two years later, I showed up. Being half-Latina and half-Sicilian gave me a year round tan," Tori chuckled. "But it also made me a natural at both languages that my parents spoke when they were upset or excited." Tori then leaned against the door that led to the roof. "Then there was my Uncle Joe. He never had kids himself so I was more like a daughter than a niece to him. I think I was thirteen or fourteen he gave me a gun for a present and told me to not tell my pop."

"Why?" Jade pressed.

"Because..." Tori shrugged. "He knew how my father worried when it came to family. But my uncle told me he had seen enough to know that the best protection is not impenetrable. So when my dad would be away conducting business, Joe knew his older brother's wife and daughter were safe. He even taught me how to shoot. As I grew up, and even saw a little of the violence with my own eyes, most of it spoken of in whispers; but I became more aware of the family business. I wasn't stupid. But I knew the less on the surface the better, so I kept my head down and stayed with my studies."

Tori looked forlorn at the woman listening to her story intently.

"Then when I was seventeen, that all changed."

"The Corbucci Family apparently put out a hit on the Vegas. All four of us were in the car. We suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. The driver turned and fired at my uncle who was sitting up front with him. And then turned on my mom and dad. I dodged him. I guess he thought he got me too because he left the car and started running. But he didn't get more than a few yards before I put a bullet in the bastard's back."

Tori wiped away a tear.

"So there I was...alone...covered in my family's blood."

 _"And that was the sound of my heart breaking,"_ Jade thought.

"While I had no record, my connection to my family was too big to ignore. So, they split the difference and tried me as an adult for assault with a deadly weapon. I was sentenced to ten years in O'Connor Women's Correctional. It was there I found out the Corbucci Family and my dad's people combined their forces into a new crime syndicate. This meant the systematic killings of all the previous dons. I knew only a few of us were blood, but I was brought up into thinking we were all family. And they all turned on us. Turned on my father. Didn't take long for word to spread about who I was around the other inmates."

* * *

 _ **FLASHBACK**_

"VEGA!"

The tan girl did not acknowledge the antagonistic tone from across the cafeteria. She continued to stare at the tasteless slab of beef and plain mashed potatoes in front of her. It was then the footsteps started; she knew what was coming.

 _"If they really wanted to torture me, they'd let me eat my food."_

She let herself an internal smirk when her fellow inmates approached her.

"Hey, Vega!"

Tori breathed out a beleaguered sigh and turned up to see Tracie and her brood staring daggers at her.

 _"The gang's all here."_

"You answer me when I call you, _Vega_!"

The half-Latina shrugged.

"Can't we just get this over with?"

The bronze-skinned woman's eyes were enraged. "What did you say to me?"

In her effort to make this ordeal quick and (relatively) painless, Tori may have inadvertently made things slow and miserable.

Suddenly, the five women accompanying Tracie descended upon her and began dragging the girl away from the table. Tori struggled somewhat but she knew deep inside that it was utterly useless. The short blonde, nicknamed Suzie Q, delivered a punch to her gut that knocked the wind out of her while the other four each held a limb. Tracie quickly noticed the changing of the guards and knew that Marcus was less lenient to violence among the prisoners.

"Laundry room, NOW!" she ordered. The others complied and followed.

Tracie checked to see if the coast was clear and motioned for her gang to get inside the dank basement filled with washing machines and dryers. Normally, two inmates were sent to do laundry duty for the whole prison. It would take up the entire day, but this was one of the few places that was only guarded sporadically. This was Tracie's preferred spot for inflicting pain on the women in here that pissed her off. And on this shit-list Tori Vega has had a place at the very top in permanent ink.

The leader nodded to Jen, the tall redhead, who agreed to stand watch until they were done. Plus, it was common knowledge that the guards were soft toward Jen so she was prepared to create a diversion by any means necessary to allow her cohorts to escape undetected.

Tori was thrown into one of the few chairs in the room, which was situated underneath a powerful fluorescent light.

She felt pain as Tracie grabbed her face hard and leaned in.

"I do love your cheekbones, Vega. Your face fits perfectly in my hand," she grinned. Tori did a quick twitch as if to try and bite her but Tracie was quicker than that. "Bitch!"

Tori tried to get up but the others held her down.

"A piece of shit, just like your fucking father" Tracie growled. "And do you know what we do to pieces of shit?"

Brown eyes narrowed as Tori stretched her jaw, relieved of being released from Tracie's grip. Something about this woman always set her off. Tori knew the ass kicking of her life (since yesterday) was coming. But that didn't stop her from attacking her enemy's ego.

"Well, judging from your breath, I think you eat it."

A suppressed snicker from her friend, Regine, sent Tracie into a fury.

"You'll regret that, Vega."

...

Two hours later, Tracie's gang dragged the barely conscious Tori down the corridor. When they heard the whistling of an approaching guard, they deftly discarded the body and bolted.

Barry, the guard, walked up to the limp prisoner and knelt beside her to read her name. He grabbed his radio and asked "Marcus, it's Barry. Got Vega outside the laundry room. Where she staying at?"

The radio blared and came back, "C Block but the warden is walking through right now. Is there a cell closer to where you are?"

Barry gave it some thought and remembered a new arrival from this morning. Kind of hard to forget such a woman.

"Yeah, new prisoner. I can drop Vega there." He picked her up, taking advantage of the opportunity to grab her ass while doing so. The guard didn't pay her bruises any mind, being more concerned with covering up this inmate who somehow got out of her cell. "Well, Vega, looks like you have a new roommate."

It took about five minutes but eventually Barry the guard took Tori to her new digs, the other cellmate seemingly asleep.

Tori fell right to the floor with a thud once the guard let her go. The loud clang of the bars closing shut and locking was the audio cue for her that it truly was over. For now. She curled up into her usual fetal position, hoping the pain would stave off long enough so that she could drift off to sleep. She was in solitary ever since being admitted, given the status of her father. But that didn't stop the other prisoners from giving her the business every chance they got. But at least now she knew that she was alone; having not paid attention to the exchange between the guards through the radio. Tori thought she was in her own cell, so she wasn't expecting to hear...

"You okay, honey?"

Her body tensed up and she closed herself more into a ball, preparing herself to ward off any more blows she might receive.

The feel of a hand on her shoulder did not put her at ease but she was too weak to resist the force rolling her over onto her back. Now Tori could see where the voice came from. She was tall, really tall, and her arms and legs were thick. She was the largest woman Tori's ever seen. The half-Latina honestly didn't know what to say to someone who was easily the biggest one in this prison and was also being the most gentle to her right now.

The newcomer let out a genuine gasp, "What did they do to you?"

All Tori could muster in response at the moment was a groan. What happened next surprised her; she found herself being picked up and brought over to the bottom bunk.

"This lady's strong as shit."

The thin mattress was preferable to the concrete floor, so Tori was grateful for that. The tall blonde grabbed a small white rag on the small sink beside the toilet and wet it under the tap.

"It's cold but I can't do anything about that," the giantess says while trying to clean up Tori's face. The blood and dirt was coming off but the black and blue marks were here to stay for a matter of days at least. "What's your name?"

"Tori..."

Before she could allow Tori to ask the same question back, she responded "My name's Alice. I know its kind of cliche but what are you in for?"

Tori coughed, which was easier and less painful than sucking in the air for laughter. She had to admit, it was the prison equivalent of asking someone "are you from around here?"

"Assault. Bastard killed my family."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "And you only assaulted him?"

"Got him while trying to flee. Coward."

Tori laid there in silence, remembering the scene as vividly as if it had happened moments ago. It would forever be in her mind.

"And you?" Vega asked her new friend.

"Have you heard of the She-She Lounge?"

Tori shook her head.

"Well, anyway, I was the bouncer. There was this creepy guy who would harass the girls standing in line to get in. I told him to piss off but he refused so I had to get physical. I picked him up and accidentally cracked his back. Guess I don't know my own strength sometimes."

"Thanks," Tori said, referring to Alice tending to her like this.

 ** _END FLASHBACK_**

Jade stood there enthralled by how Tori painted a picture of what it was like being behind those concrete walls.

"For a while, things were relatively civil in the prison," Tori began. "The violence toward me and some of the others have ceased when Tracie and her followers came face to face with the stoic Alice. News of her paralyzing a man with her bare hands spread like wildfire. Alice had to just enter a room and any rising scuffle was quickly suppressed. She was a favorite of the guards to that end. They nicknamed her Alice the Enforcer. And she was my protection as well as my only friend behind bars."

 _"But slowly we were becoming something more than that,"_ Tori kept to herself.

Thinking of Alice again briefly brought Tori back to a happy place.

 ** _FLASHBACK_**

One night when Alice was laying awake, Tori descended from her own bunk and looked at her cellmate.

"What's wrong?"

Tori didn't say anything. She just got under the covers alongside Alice. The blonde stroked Tori's hair. They laid there for some time before a shared instinct made them both kiss for the first time. It was also that night that Tori would lose her virginity. She had never imagined this was how it would happen but then again, given the circumstances, there wasn't a more loving or attentive section in this world than right here.

When the pair was given time in private, like when doing laundry, Alice taught Tori how to fight. Much like with guns, Tori was a fast learner. In time, she was landing blows that even someone as big as Alice was noticing.

"Wow, kiddo" she chuckled. "I actually felt that one."

Tori grinned. "If I _really_ hurt you, I promise to kiss it better."

Alice licked her lips. "Well, if that's the case I'm not sure if I want the fighting to end too soon."

 ** _END FLASHBACK_**

"What happened to her?" Jade had to ask.

She was genuinely curious about the gentle giant Tori had mentioned. But also harbored a small twinge of jealously in the recesses of her mind. First this mysterious woman professes her sudden love for her and now regales her encounter with another female. Tori's eyes went glassy from remembering her. Jade wished she could have that kind of an impact.

 _"Okay, this is insane"_ Jade kicked herself. _"Why am I suddenly envious of someone I've never met interacting with somebody I JUST met?"_

Tori replied, "Weeks went by and an unexpected plot was brewing under the noses of the guards. A band of prisoners got together and started a massive fire as a diversion. While the guards were distracted, Jen and Suzie Q broke into the weapons keep and quickly Tracie's little troupe was armed. It took only minutes for all of the guards to be gunned down, the inmates acquiring keys from each of the dead bodies. They were breaking out. That night."

She then looked Jade in the eye. "But they had some unfinished business first."

 ** _FLASHBACK_**

"I've been waiting for this for a long time!"

Tori looked down the barrel of a shotgun turned on her by Tracie.

Then the weapon vanished from view when Tracie was tackled by Alice. She brought that woman to the floor, losing her gun in the process. But unbeknownst to her, Suzie Q was sneaking into the room with her own weapon and fired. A single bullet in the back of her head ended Alice's life instantly.

Tori immediately rushed to her, eyes filling with tears. She shook her dear friend, praying that she was only hurt but it was all in vain. Alice was dead.

Using the distraction to her advantage, Tracie picked up her shotgun and approached Tori picking up where she left off. Confident in her payback, Tracie was unaware of the can of worms she had just unleashed.

As Tori was on her knees, once again bathed in the blood of the only one who cared about her; something inside snapped.

With a scream of complete fury, Tori rose up and punched Tracie in the neck. The pain made her drop her weapon. Tori seized it straight away and knew exactly who to shoot first. Suzie Q went down with a bullet in the belly. She would die from that and it would be extremely painful. Her screams of agony were the soundtrack for Tori's slow walk to Tracie, laying on her back and holding her neck. Vega managed to nail her right in the jugular.

 _"When the flying fuck did this waif learn to fight?"_

Standing over her, Tori relished the frenzied look in Tracie's eyes. The gun was lowered until the barrel was mere inches from her face.

"You scared, bitch?" Tori taunted. "If I were you, I would be too."

The half-Latina pulled the trigger but nothing came out. Her brown eyes darted to the empty gun, annoyed.

Tracie grinned like she was victorious. "What can I say? Clipped a few before coming here. That last bullet was meant for you."

Tori then turned the shotgun around so now the wooden butt was facing down.

"Oh well, so much for the easy way."

Now Tracie's face was overcome by the fear that Tori had hoped. Serves her right for the misery she caused her and what her and her crony did to Alice.

It must have been at least a dozen blows (Tori had lost count) until Tracie's skull began to collapse.

Seeing her two enemies slain and satisfied, Tori took a moment to hold Alice's hand once more and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"They can't hurt you now, Alice."

She thought she could cry forever right then and there but Tori knew she had to stay strong until she got free of this prison. Stealing the set of keys from Suzie Q, who was now writhing much slower than a minute ago, Tori set out to make her escape.

 ** _END FLASHBACK_**

Jade couldn't believe what she had heard. To imagine the woman standing before her had killed in cold blood, however deserving the inflicted. But she could read her face and believe that it took a lot out of her. Whatever spirit Tori Vega had, the violence in her life had broken it.

"My line of work must be a little clearer now?" Tori asked. "Killing is all I know; turned out to be the only thing I was ever good at."

The pale woman took a step forward.

"Vega...um...Tori...I"

She turned her back to Jade.

"Forgive me, I didn't mean to dump all of this on you. But my feelings for you are strong; haven't felt this way for a very long time. I didn't want any secrets between us."

"What do you mean _us_?"

Tori shook her head.

"Keep a close eye on Kermer. He can't be trusted. If you find enough evidence against him, do not hesitate. Don't just fire him, turn him in."

Jade could tell by her body language that she was going to make a hasty exit.

"Wait..."

Tori pulled her mask back on and swan dived off the rooftop and vanished into the night.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hope everyone had a good time off for the holidays. I'm exhausted but was able to get enough time off to finish this latest chapter.**

 **See you again soon!**

* * *

Leopold Kermer turned the knob of the door that read: JADE WEST, C.E.O.

It made his stomach churn to read that but he just wanted to get this over with. She called and asked to meet with him in person in her office.

"You wanted to see me, Jade?" he asked, with a hint of superiority.

Jade looked up from the file folder she was holding, closed it and slid it across her desk.

"Yes, sit down."

The older man obliged as he pondered what self-indulgent bullshit he was called up here for. Probably wanted to gently rib him for contradicting her in front of the board.

"What is this about?" he asked.

"I don't know," Jade cryptically replied, gesturing to the folder which was inches from Kermer. "You tell me."

Taken aback, Leopold picked up the folder and unfurled it to reveal its contents. His heart sank into his gut when he immediately recognized the data on the spreadsheet presented to him.

"My father, your boss, put you in charge of the Detroit economic recovery project. We were going to bring auto production back to the city in a bag way."

"Jade..."

The brunette raised a finger.

"I'm not finished. We went through nearly a billion dollars but in all the rigmarole, it would appear that we hemorrhaged ten million. Ten percent of the budget vanished and nobody knows _where the fuck it went!_ "

Kermer sat in silence.

"Not that anyone could tell," Jade continued. "If you just went by the books, all of the money is accounted for. But I'm not an idiot, which is why on all major projects I've implemented a policy to have two separate accountants who work independently on the same job. They go over the invoices and everything, both sent the exact same information and when all is said and done we compare." Jade then landed a glare on Kermer. "You know, make sure nobody's cooking the books."

Jade then threw an open folder right next to the other one.

"And wouldn't you know it, one has ten million missing and the other doesn't. And I went over these numbers with that second accountant; they're correct."

"Listen, Jade..."

She held up her hand for him to stop. Jade knew he was going to name his accomplice from accounting.

"Don't bother throwing Mark Boen under the bus. I already dealt with him. $500,000 is a lot of money to someone fresh out of college, no? All those loans to pay off right? I didn't want to let him go but a moment of weakness doesn't excuse what he did. You, on the other hand..."

Jade stood and walked around her desk over to Leopold.

"I'm not interested in why. Its money; I can wrap my pretty little head around greed. I just want to know how could you? My father built this company and you were there from the beginning. All of...this...wasn't _enough_ for you? You had a ridiculous salary, benefits, tons of perks and even a sizable residence at deep discount. Company car, access to one of our business jets, private washroom...I can go on and on. But no, that wasn't enough. It would never be enough."

Kermer was having enough of being talked down to somebody half his age. And only a shred of experience.

"Are we done here?"

Jade then did something he didn't expect. She picked up her coffee mug, now empty, and flung it across the room. It shattered into dozens of pieces against the wall, leaving a noticeable dent.

"Now you listen very closely, you bastard. I don't appreciate anybody making a fool out of me or my father. You managed to hide your true nature from him and God only knows how much you embezzled from him over the years, but those days are over. YOU are over. And don't worry about severance, I'm sure your little nest egg will hold you over. Not that it matters because I'm sure the IRS will tear you apart soon enough."

She then opened her door.

"You have an hour to get your things and vacate the building. If you dawdle, I'll call the police. But hey, you can stay in your apartment if you wish. Meet your new landlord; rent starts at $10,000 a month."

Kermer grumbled as he got up and exited with little bluster.

People like that always bothered Jade. She grew up with them, went to school with them. People who only loved to acquire and dominate. They rise to positions of power just because its a position of power; they relish being able to tell people what to do. Jade clung to her spot as CEO because her desire for control was born out of her own humanity. She wasn't looking to become more rich or simply a tyrant. She wanted to have nobody above her to ensure that everyone was treated well. Jade knew after the Leopold Kermer incident that she really couldn't trust anyone to take on the mantle as head of this company.

But after her clock is punched, what then? Where would she begin to find and groom a successor to take over one day?

For Alex West, the answer was an easy one. But for Jade West, not so much.

* * *

Tori couldn't sleep last night.

Not that her accommodations in the form of a single mattress on the floor and no pillows wasn't pleasing.

She laid there and thought about her meeting with Jade. It was a tsunami of pain and secrets; this is what talking to a therapist must feel like. Tori had never unloaded on a person before that night and it made her both liberated and even more anxious than before.

It was a great deal to take in on Jade's part. Tori was worried she might have frightened her away in her attempt to be candid and show how she wasn't a threat.

But it had to be done.

Tori was growing weary of this life and wanted something at least in the galaxy of normal and fulfilling. She felt an energy between them every time she was within inches of Jade. The half-Latina didn't fall in love often but when it finally happened, it dropped on her head like a ton of bricks.

If she was going to ever have a chance at a relationship with anyone, especially someone as special and put-together as Jade, Tori had to have no lies or half-truths. The amount of secrecy her father had to live with cost him his whole family. Wherever he was, Tori figured he hoped she would find someone nice to settle down with.

Tori picked up one of her desert eagles and stared at it.

 _"But not like this. No, dad wouldn't have wanted me to become a killer for hire."_

Maybe that was why Uncle Joe asked her to keep the gun a secret. Her father knew it was in her blood and given the opportunity, Tori would kill if cornered.

 _"So let's recap: mafia princess, ex-con, and multiple murderer. Yeah, that wouldn't be too much baggage for Jade to handle."_

Oh, shut the fuck up, brain.

* * *

In her car on the way to lunch, Jade's phone rings and seeing its local she answers.

"Hello?"

"Yes, hi. Is this Jade West?"

She paused before confirming "Uh-huh..."

"Good, we got a hold of you" the male voice continued. "This is Bill Vale. I'm with the Kinopolis Post Office. We apologize for the inconvenience but your father, Alex West, had a safety deposit box for some time now and we were hoping you could make an appointment to come down and take its contents if you wish."

"What's in it?" Jade asked.

"I can't say, ma'am. My job is to just give the key to the owner or, in your case, the sole beneficiary."

Jade thought for a moment and said, "Alright, I'll be there this afternoon. Thank you."

"Goodbye," the man cheerily said.

"Bye," Jade added before hanging up. "Hey, Randy?"

"What's up?" asked the driver.

"Can you take me to the post office?"

Randy gave a little salute with his two fingers.

"Can do!"

The car suddenly screeched as Randy executed an illegal U-turn to get them facing the opposite direction.

Jade held her heart, hyperventilating.

"And please get us there in one piece."

* * *

They arrived at the post office fifteen minutes later. Jade went inside while Randy paid the meter and waited by the car.

Jade came through the revolving doors and first encountered an older gentleman in a blue stripped shirt and darker blue tie. And suspenders; that really wasn't something she saw everyday.

"Hello, I'm Jade West. I spoke on the phone with..."

"Me," he quickly answered and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you. I do apologize for your loss. These never get easier and I've been working here long before some of these skyscrapers were built. Including yours," he added with a warm smile.

Jade didn't normally care for pleasantries or small talk, especially from total strangers, but it was difficult to not let your guard down when talking with this fellow. He came off as somebody's grandpa, only without the really bad jokes.

"Just follow me and I'll lead you right to your father's box."

"Thanks," Jade said as she followed behind.

They went through a room where the man flashed his ID and a big guard nodded, granting him permission to enter. Through the door there were two corridors.

"One on the left are the over-sized units," he acknowledged. "So, we're going this way," he pointed to the right. "I must say I was surprised when I was informed of your father's safety deposit box."

"Why's that?" Jade asked.

"Just seems to me that a man of his standing would want to lock away more than what one of our smallest units would hold. I suppose he has his own wing at the bank vault, wouldn't you agree? Maybe a dozen or so floor safes, eh?"

Jade shrugged as they entered the room which was filled with hundreds of tiny fireproof steel doors. The old man held up the key, matching the number on it to the numbers on the doors.

"Aaaaaaaand here we are...313." He then turned the key, opened the door and pulled out what looked like a small tackle box. "And here _you_ are."

She held the little box, curious of its contents.

"I will give you a few minutes of privacy. Seems to me if you wish to take whatever is in there with you, it ought to fit in your purse. Normally our policy is once a box is emptied, it is automatically forfeited. Unless...you would rather keep it."

"Um..." Jade made a scrunchy face. "No, that shouldn't be necessary."

"Alrighty," he nodded. "I'll be back in five."

"Thanks again," she said.

Jade carefully opened the top of the box and saw a sealed envelope. Feeling with her fingers, there was definitely more than paper in this diminutive parcel. Apparently it was something her dad entrusted to the post office but not enough to have them simply mail it to her.

 _"Whatever this is,"_ she thought. _"He really didn't want ANYONE else to intercept this."_

She placed it into her purse and waited the couple more minutes for the old man to let her out.

* * *

That night, alone in her apartment, Jade was ready to finally look inside this thing her father's safety deposit box contained. Who knew how long it was there?

A little gadget from the lab Sikowitz cooked up to quash corporate espionage scanned Jade's place and showed no signs of any bugs. She was officially in a safe space.

"Okay, dad. Here we go."

Jade used her letter opener to tear into the envelope and tilted it over, letting its contents spill onto her coffee table:

There was a leather-bound journal and a flash drive. First she picked up the book and started flipping through it and with the turn of a certain page, a yellow piece of paper fell out. She picked it up and unfolded it.

It was no mistake; it was her father's handwriting.

 _JADE, If you are reading this then something has happened to me. I don't want to worry you too much but it would not surprise me if it were sabotage. There were some projects I kept secret from others. But even Sikowitz doesn't know about this one. It's called Project Ghost and the details are in the flash drive. The journal is my almost decade of research. I'm so sorry I'm no longer with you, Jade. I would happily give it all up if it meant I survived but you reading this means otherwise. I want you to know two things: I love you more than anything in this world and two, don't let anyone find out about this. I hope you never find out just the kind of people that would kill to get their hands on this technology. LOVE FOREVER, DAD._

Her hands trembled as she held the note and read it twice. Jade studied the little silver and black flash drive in her hand. This contained something earth-shattering and her father didn't have the pension for hyperbole. Jade grabbed her laptop and placed it on the coffee table.

Turning it on, she pulled up the anti-virus program before inserting the drive just to play it safe. After plugging it into the USB, the anti-virus began scanning it. Jade decided to start thumbing through her dad's journal while she waited.

Various entries spanning years were in this book. There was scribbles of different diagrams and algorithms. A lot of this was written in haste, possibly with shorthand so it made reading it a little difficult. Some of the earlier pages Jade could make out described experiments where light and dust (by accident) were successfully sent from one room to the other.

 _"Teleportation?"_

Her computer beeped that the scan was finished and found nothing malicious. Jade took a deep breath and began looking inside the flash. There were scores of files, mostly word processing, and a few pictures. Clicking on one of the images, it turned out to be a sophisticated GIF that quickly showed a digital demonstration. It depicted a cube being zapped with an energy beam and disassembling only to completely regenerate elsewhere. It was very elementary; possibly intended for a presentation to investors.

As she checked through more and more of the pics, they revealed the guts of the machine that apparently her father engineered to carry out this teleportation thing.

"Is this thing for real?" Jade queried, shaking her head in disbelief.

Throwing down the journal, Jade heard a mild clang when it hit on the table. She tilted her head as she picked the book back up and turned it over. Unfurling the back cover, she found a small key taped to the inside. Her eyes went wide as she rose and ran to her bedroom to retrieve her father's satchel. Jade pulled the key out and licked her lips, trying to prepare herself for what might be what she was waiting for.

Jade tried the key. It fit. Then she started to turn it; the bag was unlocked.

Slowly, Jade opened the flap of the brown bag and reached inside. Her hand touched something smooth and cold; definitely metal. She pulled it out and carefully set it on the table in front of her. It was small, about the size of a hardback book. It had some small buttons on it and what looked like slits that would light up, but little else in terms of detail.

Perplexed by the mysterious little silver box, Jade flipped a few pages toward the end of the journal. He had written into this thing to very last page.

 _"I've done it,"_ Jade read. _"It was small - just a glass of water - but it vanished and assembled as it was several rooms down the hall. With more backing and research, much larger forms of solid matter could be transported through the air."_

He was right, people would be after this. This wasn't just the biggest scientific breakthrough of the 21st century. If the wrong person was able to harness this technology; they would be unstoppable.

Jade sat back, running her fingers through her hair, letting all of this wash over her. She couldn't imagine how her father kept something so monumental to himself. Like a man of science, he was probably excited with what he was able to achieve but only at the finish line did he really consider the implications. Alex West was a man of ethics but he had the tendency to get carried away when he was hot about an idea.

The vibration in her pants pocket snapped Jade out of it and she fished it out. Reading that it was incoming from Cat, she answered.

"What's up, Cat?" she yawned.

"JADE? JADE!"

The brunette sat up, more erect. Cat's tone of voice was very frantic.

"Cat; what's wrong? Cat?"

"He's here, he won't leave. I called the police but they're on the other line...they got me on hold."

"FOUND YOU BITCH! YOU THOUGHT I WAS KIDDING?!"

The other voice, very male, very aggressive. Jade almost dropped the phone, it was so jarring. Jade could hear rapid footsteps and heavy breathing. Cat was running.

"Help m-"

The connection went dead.

Jade stood and ran to the door, barely grabbing her keys on the wall on her way out. Knowing everything was still out in the open, Jade locked the door and practically jumped to the elevator. She called her driver and told him to be ready in 30 seconds and then hung up to dial 911.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I was very concerned at first but I'm tickled everyone is enjoying this story. I tried to not make it predictable where possible but your patience has been terrific. Thanks for understanding my nasty schedule.**

 **Sorry its a tad short but I haven't been feeling well**

 **Love you all ;-)**

* * *

Jade's driver stopped right across the street from Cat's building. The copious amount of cars in front made it impossible to park so this was the closest Randy could get. He let out a yawn as the brunette leaped out of the vehicle and raced inside.

Cat's apartment building was an older one, not the wrong side of the tracks but definitely not well-cared for by the owner. Jade figured this because it had no buzzing system or a doorman; she just let herself in. Anyone, drug dealers, rapists; any vagrant could just let themselves in and potentially harm the other tenants. The elevator looked like it was vandalized a long time ago and forgotten about. Jade reluctantly took the stairs, running as fast as possible and doing her best not to touch the walls as they harbored the occasional patch of dried blood. She didn't know where these people had been and knew all about pathogens so she erred in the side of caution.

Had Jade known that her best friend was living in such a hellhole, she would have opted her to move into Westbound Tower in a heartbeat.

As she ascended to the fourth floor, Jade could faintly hear the panicked voice of Cat.

"Let me go! Just leave me alone, leave me _alone_!"

* * *

 _ **CAT'S POV**_

What did I ever see in this creep? He seemed charming at first but maybe I was so tired from work these past couple of weeks, I didn't notice his aggressiveness. I thanked him for the drink at the bar but kindly told him I wasn't interested in starting a relationship at this time.

Apparently, "not at this time" to him means "please follow me, please chase me, please manhandle me."

I kicked him a couple of times and would get about a block away, hoping I gave him the slips but he would always find me. I really didn't want him to know where I lived but here we were, doors down from my apartment. I knew if he got me inside there was no escape and judging from his breath, little would stop him. So as much as it hurt, I continued to fight and keep the scuffle in the corridor praying that someone, anyone, would hear.

Unfortunately, it was probably less than a 50/50 chance of that happening. This was the part of town where people kept their heads down and even when a woman screamed at the top of her lungs, people would her it and ignore it.

The whole fight is going so fast, I swear I'm starting to see things. This dingy hallway is poorly lit but I thought in my peripheral vision there was a shadowy figure lurking. Someone to help me? Someone who wants to join in? Or just someone who gets off watching someone else's suffering. I'd be lying if this were my first time witnessing such a thing.

But then, the shadow advanced toward me. I blinked because of the proximity but I knew I saw that shadow blindside my attacker. For the first time, my own screams ceased and the air was filled with only his cries. Even if I wanted to shout, I couldn't. I laid there frozen in shock as I watched this human bathed in black dragging him away. It must have been seconds later when I heard a familiar and comforting voice.

"Cat? Cat!"

Jade's here. My body can calm down now. When I was little, I would have feared for what they called the Boogeyman. But whomever that was just now, thank you so much. I thought that was the end for me.

* * *

Jade approached Cat, who was down on the floor, her lovely red hair strewn around. It kind of made a halo around her head like one of those old paintings depicting a person of divine origin. Given Cat's good nature, that probably wouldn't be far off.

"Are you okay?" she asked her friend, dropping to her knees and lifting up her head.

Cat coughed before replying, "I'm alright."

Jade looked around, frantic.

"Where is he?" she growled.

"Someone attacked him," Cat said. She raised her tired right arm which spent the last half hour warding off a 190 pound man. "They went that way."

The both could hear the coming sirens.

"Did you get a good look at the guy for the cops?" Jade asked.

Cat nodded, her eyes closing like she was about to cry. "Yes. I'll never forget _that_ face." Her breathing was attempting to normalize. "But I guess I'm really lucky."

"How can you say that?"

"If it wasn't for...whoever that was...who knows what he could have done." The tears looked to be returning. "I'm sorry...I tried to get away..."

"Don't you dare apologize," Jade said, gently putting down Cat's head. She then quickly took off her jacket and folded it to make for a more stable pillow to rest Cat's head. "It wasn't your fault, even if you knew the creep."

The impending footsteps let the pair know the cops were right behind them. And hopefully an EMT.

"Hey!" Jade shouted to the first blue she saw. "This woman needs medical assistance. And her attacker went that way," she pointed, indicating the direction Cat mentioned.

Two officers tended to the young woman while another two hustled down the hall to catch the suspect. Jade stood back, letting the men do their work.

"Is there an ambulance coming?" Jade pressed.

"Yes," one of the remaining cops replied. "But it was tied up at the hospital. They should be arriving shortly..."

As if on cue, a woman and an older fellow appeared with their EMT hats and medical bags in tow.

"Thank you officers," the woman said. "Now let us see."

"Hey guys!" a younger officer who was part of the pursuit came back to alert the two relieved cops. "You gotta see this!"

"Did you get him?" a mustached officer asked.

The rookie sighed and made a face. "Oh yeah but I think you'd want to see this before we...um...take him into custody."

Mustache looked at his partner and shrugged. He wasn't in the mood for games, especially at this hour, but this kid wasn't known for making jokes.

They didn't have to go far; in fact Jade wasn't too far behind. She just had to see the bastard before they hauled him in. He was there alright but not on his stomach with cuffs behind him. Nor was he sitting against the wall, again hands behind him with restraints. No, instead he was dangling from the ceiling like the ugliest chandelier you've ever seen. He was tied up and suspended from the ceiling with a single strong cable.

While the young lady down the corridor must have put up a hell of a fight, the arresting officers were doubtful that she had inflicted these grisly welts and contusions on this guy's face. He was still alive but barely. The police were just dumbfounded on how to get him down from here.

"Can't we cut him down?" the mustached cop asked.

A bald cop who was with the young blood stepped forward.

"We were kind of hoping your car still had the jaws of life. We can't cut this strand with any knife we've got."

The Kinopolis police department has a few jaws of life given to squad cars if the fire brigade were ever held up and they had to break into a car pronto. Facial hair over here had one of those lucky cars.

"Yeah," he sighed heavily. "Be right back."

He walked away muttering to himself about how much that thing weighs like a ton and was not looking forward to schlepping that device up four flights of stairs.

Jade was dumbstruck. This was not the handiwork of your run of the mill good Samaritan.

* * *

It's very late and the cops have mostly dispersed. They got the man down and took him into lockup until he was sober enough to understand the severity of his crimes. Cat was doing okay and was asked if she wanted to be admitted to the hospital but she said no and just wanted to go to sleep in her own bed. Jade agreed to stay with her all night.

Once her friend was down, Jade was finally able to let our her breath in relief. This was quite the evening.

She started to nod off when a tapping sound startled her. Jade initially wrote it off as probably a rodent. This dilapidated shack; it wouldn't surprise her. Jade thought about this piece of shit apartment and weighed in what was less extravagant. Tearing it down and rebuilding it, or tearing it down and relocating the residents to Westbound Tower. It would be on the other side of town but she was sure many would find that an upgrade. Either way, Jade wanted to tear this building asunder. It wasn't fair that the current landlord was charging people to live here. It was falling apart, offered no real security...

 _ **TAP TAP TAP**_

"Okay, what the fuck was that?" Jade asked aloud.

Now she knew where it was coming from. The window overlooking the fire escape. The brunette got up and squinted to see if there was an animal out there.

No, it was actually Tori. She was holding small rocks in her hand; that old trick to get somebody's attention.

She was the last person Jade expected to see tonight but the surprise was extremely pleasant. Jade opened the window, which wasn't easy and got out onto the fire escape. It was pretty cold tonight, evidenced by her breath being visible. A fleeting thought pondered if they were stuck out here, how would this woman warm her up. Jade pushed down such dirty thoughts, for fear of visibly blushing. She didn't date much but knew to play it cool when face to face with someone you really really like.

"Okay, seriously, we need to meet somewhere closer to the ground." Jade dryly said.

Tori made a short hum, the kind when you want to laugh but not enough to open your mouth.

"Is your friend okay?"

Jade was stunned. "Yes, she is. How did you...?"

"I was walking earlier and immediately caught wind of the fight between her and that drunk. I followed them. Lost them for a second once they entered the building but quickly found them on this floor."

Blue-green eyes widened. "It was you!"

It came out more like a question but Jade meant it as a statement. The way he was found and how badly he was worked over; professional in execution but passionate in its brutality. Who else could it have been?

"Yeah," Tori nodded. "Maybe now in the jailhouse he can see what its like to fight somebody his own size. God knows I did."

"But how did you know she was my friend?"

A legitimate question and Tori wishes that Jade isn't made standoffish by the answer.

"You see, I saw what happened on the rooftop that day. You know, the helicopter accident. I recognized her from that and figured you two were at least acquaintances."

Tori smirked.

"I suppose you two go way back."

"Not...really," Jade said. "Its only been less than two weeks. We've only been tight because when we met, she saved my life."

The half-Latina looked at the pale woman longingly. "Guess I have her to thank then. Glad I was able to replay the favor."

 _"What can I say, the world is more interesting with you in it"_ Tori thought.

The way she was looking at Jade made her knees shake.

"We should meet...like somewhere normal. No suits or...

"...clandestine activities?" Tori suggested.

Jade nodded. "Right."

"You mean like a date?"

Now she was officially flushed. "Uh," she then chuckled nervously. "ca-can-can be?"

Inside she was a child screaming at Christmastime. But outwardly, Tori maintained her composure.

"I thought you'd never ask. Where?"

They stood in silence for a bit.

"I'm kind of drawing a blank right now," Jade still awkwardly laughing to mask how scared she was. But a good kind of scared like before a roller coaster.

Tori dug into her pocket and handed Jade a business card.

Jade took it and read out loud "Occam's Razors: The Simplest Solution to Your Shaving Needs."

"Turn it over," said, rolling her eyes.

Jade complied and found 10 handwritten digits.

"That's a new phone," Tori informed her. "I destroyed my old one. I'm tired of doing this stuff and want I something more from this life, you know?"

"With me?" Jade asked.

Tori backed up and slowly perched herself atop the iron railing.

"You're the first person I've ever given that number to. What do you think?"

Once again, before Jade could say more, Tori vanished like the phantom she was. Even being just three floors above the ground, Jade still could not see where she went.

 _"Okay, I haven't decided yet if that disappearing act she does is really sexy or really frustrating."_

* * *

Leopold Kermer sat in his darkened living room, feet resting on the closed box containing the personal items from his desk. He replayed the whole scene in his head over and over again. He saw a side to Jade West that she never showed to anyone else; she was like a shark in the water sniffing blood. In another life, he would have admired her tenacity but as it stands, she remained the biggest obstacle in his plans.

He felt like he was closing in on the whereabouts of the elusive "Project Ghost." Alex West was wise to have worked on most of his inventions exclusively on dummy terminals that weren't connected to the server or the Internet. But even a genius doesn't think of everything.

Despite his technological proclivities, Alex was a relatively late bloomer to the smart phone craze. He didn't anticipate that the device he carried with him everywhere and held notes, passwords, and personal pictures could be hacked. It was there that Kermer first caught wind of the secret project in the form of an email West sent to himself so he had a backup copy. The details eluded him, but from what he could gather this thing would have the ability to breakdown matter and send it to another location.

The possibilities of such a breakthrough were endless. Leopold cared not for his recent termination because he knew his fortune was right around the corner. His former boss's little secret attracted the attention of the right buyer. The kind of man who would pay eight figures for what this machine promised.

Kermer's phone vibrated.

 _"Speak of the devil..."_

He pushed the screen to talk and answered, "Kermer here."

"I've heard you lost your job."

 _"How in the hell...?"_

"Y-yes," Kermer replied. "But it shouldn't affect anything. I have my ways inside."

The other line went silent for a spell. If this was done to intimidate him, it was working.

Then the deep voice finally answered back.

"I sincerely hope so Leopold, for your sake. Now I'm feeling a little magnanimous at the moment. Give me the device before the week is out and I'll give you an added bonus, seeing as you are in dire straights nowadays."

Kermer didn't know what to say to that.

"Oh, well, thank y-"

"But if you strike out," the voice interrupted. "We're done. No more chances." The clicking of a gun was then heard in the background. "Do we understand?"

"Yeah," Leopold nodded.

The other man hung up and the now former executive slunk even deeper into his chair.

 _"Have to call Carl in the morning and see if he's fixed that tracker on Jade's car. I will get that device, one way or another."_


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: We've gotten snow twice in a row at the time of this chapter posting. And here comes number three.**

* * *

Tori walked to the corner of Fifteenth and Arbor where Ray's Pizza was. Jade had suggested the place as she had gone there a few times while in college. They would hold nightly cramming sessions there from five until closing. Jade remembered how it wasn't particularly crowded on Thursday nights, so it would grant the two of them some privacy.

Tori agreed on the place and the time. She entered and was disappointed that Jade wasn't already inside. The **_DING DING_** of the little brass bells that hung by the door alerted the proprietor of his new customer.

"Good evening, how are you doing miss?" the chef/owner asked. "What can I get for you?"

She smiled and replied, "Oh, I'm waiting for someone first."

"Okay," he nodded.

Tori took a seat at a booth by the wall.

Unconsciously, she started lightly tapping the table with her fingertips. Not in annoyance but as a nervous habit. Tori had looked death in the face and came out on top more than once and this moment had her heart in her throat the most. How can one woman reduce an otherwise capable and self-sufficient woman to butter? Tori was the one that initiated the dialogue several nights ago and laid her whole past bare. And it was also her that suggested Jade to meet with her in a formal date.

As her body was anticipating the evening all day long, you would think Jade was the one to ask her out.

 _ **DING DING**_

"Oh," Jade blurted out, seeing her date sitting across the room. Alone.

She smiled, trying to mask her own anxiety. Jade half expected Tori to be upset that she didn't show and leave. But she stuck around, despite it being almost half an hour later than planned.

"I'm so sorry," the dark-haired woman said, sitting on the opposite side of the booth. "I was getting into it with our security expert. See, we let somebody go recently and that means he had to update the systems and he hasn't gotten to it yet..."

Tori just watched her speak a mile a minute, grinning. She liked how Jade seemed to be the busiest, most interesting person in the world.

"Nah, it happens. I was a few minutes late myself," she lied. Tori just wanted Jade to feel less bad about her tardiness. She understood how so many people were leaning on her. But that didn't matter right now because here Jade was all hers.

"So, your friend...uh..."

"Cat," Jade said.

"Right, Cat" Tori nodded. "She's doing better?"

"Oh, yeah. I really do appreciate what you did back there. I tried to get to her but thank god you were nearby."

Tori smiled, looking down at the table.

"Is something wrong?" Jade asked.

"No, not wrong exactly." Tori wasn't sure how honest she should be. "I was fifty/fifty on whether or not you were going to show. Not that you would do that but I didn't think you would feel the same way."

Jade bit her lip.

"Listen, from what you told me; life hasn't been kind to you, right?"

Tori just starred back at her.

"Anyway," Jade continued. "I can sort of understand that you would be suspicious of any good turn in life. I may have not been to prison but I know what it feels like to lose your family. But I was fortunate in that I had tons of things to distract me. No matter what I did, though, that hole in your heart never goes away."

The tan woman wiped a couple of fresh tears. She had trained herself not to wear her emotions on her sleeve but those words did cut her to the bone.

Jade took Tori's hands into hers. They were so warm.

"When you don't have a family, you kind of have to go out in the world and make one of your own, you know? There ARE people who want to be your friend..." Jade then tilted her head. "...and those who want to be more than that. They _do_ exist and I don't have to face the world alone. I had to learn that and so do you."

"Jade?"

"Yeah?" she nodded.

Tori breathed in and out nervously.

"I want to kiss you."

A stunned Jade just softly said "...that's oka-"

The half-Latina pulled her in, that table between them was a pitiful barrier to keep them apart. Jade thought with any more force she surely would have been dragged onto the table. The kiss was soft and hot, with a small spark of electricity no doubt from the static shock generated by Jade's sweater.

Tori finally relented, a little out of breath. Jade sat back down. She too was a bit winded.

"That was..." Jade breathed long. "something else."

"I'll say," Tori agreed, touching the corner of her bottom lip.

A third party clearing their throat snapped the two out of their daze. An equally embarrassed girl stood beside their table holding a pen and notepad.

"Sorry, do you need more time?"

* * *

Sikowitz had his feet up on the table in Lab B, using his laptop to check out the contents of the flash drive Jade had given him.

She specifically told him to make it a priority to fully understand the inner workings of "Project Ghost." Jade told him she initially hesitated to let him in on the device but she needed more time devoted to comprehending her father's research than she was able to give. And Sikowitz has proven time and again he is a man she could trust. And having known him for as long as she could remember, Jade saw the mad scientist as the kooky uncle.

If it was that important to Alex West, second only to his little girl, then it was a big deal for Sikowitz.

"I think we should try a little test, my beauty" he remarked at the little box.

Ten minutes later he was on the next floor above where he placed a coconut on the carpeted floor of one of the many vacant offices. He then ran back to his lab and eagerly started up the machine. The actual controls were relatively simplistic. Turn it on and always have the machine on one side of the barrier and the object to be transported on the other side. He took great pains to ensure he was directly underneath the ceiling where the coconut sat above. Sikowitz was certain he had to have an unbroken path to make the transport effective.

He engaged the machine and nothing happened.

The scientist frowned, hoping the coconut would materialize through the ceiling and fall into his grip, like the movie _Poltergeist_. He pondered and figured what if the room you were trying to get the subject into was closed off? How could you get the device in there in the first place? That would render the transportation redundant, wouldn't it?

Sikowitz went back upstairs, this time with the machine in tow. He stood over the coconut and aimed the gadget at it. The beam that emitted was invisible but the round fruit glowed an amber color and quickly vanished. His jaw dropped and he immediately ran back downstairs.

Sure enough, when he returned the coconut was on the floor. The force of the impact made it crack perfectly into two halves, the water inside making a pool on the linoleum.

"An easy - but expensive way - to open a coconut," he remarked.

* * *

Tori and Jade were enjoying a delicious lasagna that was at least a pound, so surely there would be leftovers.

"I have to say," Jade said, putting down her fork. "That was only lasagna I ever had that wasn't frozen."

"So that's why its so amazing," Tori joked.

The tan woman noticed Jade's backpack that she came in with. It was slightly open from Jade checking for her wallet earlier. The little black box intrigued her.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked.

Jade looked down and noticed the cube was visible.

"Oh yeah," she picked up the bag and opened it a little more to give Tori a better look. She dared not to take it out to risk somebody else seeing it. "This is what it looks like when not in use."

"Whoa," Tori said. "How does it work, I mean how does that become..." she went up and down with her open hands, indicating clothing. "... _that_."

Jade put on the special glasses.

"With these," she replied. "Its the only way I can fully control it."

"You should keep those on," Tori nodded.

The paler woman made a face.

"Why?"

"Because its safer," Tori shrugged. "You'd be ready at a moments notice. Plus...those glasses really bring out your eyes."

A rosy blush overcame Jade.

"Stop it," she chuckled.

"I'll be right back," Tori said. She quietly got up and asked the cashier where the bathrooms were and she pointed toward the back on the opposite side of the kitchen entrance. She thanked her and left Jade's sight.

Jade let out a sigh, her hands shaking a little.

All of this was new to her. Dating was something she really didn't have time for. Being her father's daughter, she poured herself into her studies. Sometimes it concerned her dad. He reminded her that it was okay to have fun when everything was done, instead of planning ahead for the next lesson. Jade knew she had to put herself out there eventually. But things were even busier with running a whole company and all.

For every college exam, board meeting or any other major decision; Jade was never more nervous than she was right now.

There was a kid named Harry in her Western Civilization II course back in school. He had a crush on this girl named Megan and would agonize over his feelings. Jade told him why not just walk up to her and ask her out; it can't be that difficult. But soon after Jade came into her own with identifying who she wanted in the romantic sense, she understood. Talking to a girl you liked _is_ the hardest thing in the world. Jade made a note to apologize to Harry for all the crap she gave him.

 _ **DING DING**_

The figure was halfway across the restaurant before Jade even noticed him. But once she laid eyes on him, it was unmistakable.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Leopold held up his revolver, the few people in the place letting out a scream and searching for cover. His site was squarely aimed at Jade.

"I have my ways of finding what I'm looking for," he boasted. "Tracking you was one way," Leopold them cocked his pistol. "And here is another. Now give it to me."

Jade glowered at him.

"Give what, you asshat?"

"I know all about Project Ghost; you dad couldn't keep it a secret for long. I know you have it somewhere. Hand it over."

"Listen to me, Kermer" Jade warned. "I'm not giving you jack shit other than a swift kick in the ass to the jailhouse. I knew you were a fuck-up but publicly threatening me with a deadly weapon, you must have lost your mind."

Kermer has had enough of this and grabbed her arm, ready to bring her up and drag her out.

"I guess you don't have it on you. Fine; then we will go quietly..."

And then, everything went black.

The low-level hum when the electricity is running goes unnoticed until its completely gone. Now it was deathly quiet save for the voices inside the establishment.

Leopold looked around the room, confused. It was curious because there was still some illumination from outside so it wasn't a power failure. But that momentary distraction made the old man lose his mark. Jade had vanished from her chair.

He checked under the table and finding nobody there, he overturned it in frustration.

"Where are you, West?"

The scoot of a chair and light footsteps were all he got in response.

That was until...

"We had a fucking deal, Kermer."

 _That voice. It couldn't be._

"I told you to leave her alone or else."

 _Over there._

Leopold shot in the direction he thought he had heard the would-be assassin. But he just emptied three bullets into a wall.

"Stay the hell out of my business, you crazy bitch!" he called out. "This is between me and her."

"No..."

The owner of the voice emerged from the shadows.

" _I'm_ between you and her."

Tori then tackled the man and sent him to the tiled floor. The force made him drop his gun and send it sliding across the room. Now Tori was on top of him, pummeling with her bare fists. She wasn't particularly strong but her lean build and discipline released a torrent of unrelenting fists. In an MMA ring, she could have been a contender in the featherweight division. Despite how dizzying the assault on his face was, Kermer had enough wits about him to reach for a leg from a nearby broken chair and struck Tori on the side of the head.

The half-Latina held her left temple as she was down on her knees. With any more force, the chair leg would have snapped into pieces. Leopold seized upon the opportunity and found his handgun.

Brown eyes were now starring down the barrel of a .38 caliber.

"I just wanted West but you're a pleasant bonus."

"HEY!"

Kermer turned and there was Jade.

"Put the gun down, Leopold! It's over, right now!"

He sneered and aimed his gun at his former employer.

"No, thanks."

The shot landed point blank into the chest but Jade did not falter. She barely blinked. Kermer looked down at his gun; he knew it fired.

The restaurant was so dark that while the paler woman's face stuck out, the armor surrounding her body was relatively invisible.

"What the hell?" he mused.

Jade advanced toward him menacingly.

Knowing this was going to be his final stand if he didn't do something, Leopold simply shot her again hoping it would stop her. BLAM. It didn't.

"Fuck!" BLAM

She came closer.

"FUCK!" BLAM BLAM

Now Jade was only inches from him. He held the revolver up toward her head and pulled the trigger. This time all he got was a click.

"You lost count?" Jade asked. "Because I didn't."

Her right arm reared back like she was about to throw the starting pitch but instead her fist collided with his jugular. That made Leopold stumble back and almost fall. But Jade wasn't through with him yet. After two more blows to the bastard, she picked him up and tossed him through the front window. In spite of all that, he wasn't dead. But there was no way in hell he was going to be able to get up and leave before the cops arrived.

Jade figured the owner was calling 911 and tended to Tori who was still on the floor.

"Are you okay?"

Tori just winced.

"Let me see..." Jade gasped at the amount of blood in Tori's hair. "Oh shit, come on. We've got to get you to a hospital."

"I just need to rest..."

"NO!" she ordered Tori. "No sleep. You've got a concussion; I'm sure of it."

The dark-haired woman utilized her added strength from the armor to hoist Tori to her feet.

"Come on, Tori. We need to stay awake for a while alright?"

Her eyes looked tired but Tori smiled when she looked up at Jade's concerned face.

"Thank you."

Jade shook her head "Thank _you_."

* * *

The police arrived shortly after, quickly taking the wounded Leopold into custody. Jade had already unsheathed her armor and deftly hid it before the authorities descended onto the scene. Jade didn't leave Tori's sight; anybody who wanted to talk to her had to come up to her. That included the restaurant owner, who thanked her for taking down the gunman. She asked the kindly man if he would stay quiet about some of the details, she would happily pay for any repairs herself so he needn't get the insurance company involved.

Jade was asked by one of the officers if she would come down to the precinct to formally press charges. She told them she would be there eventually but needed to accompany Tori in the ambulance. Jade hopped into the back of the white ambulance as soon as Tori was wheeled inside. The nearest hospital was only two miles away.

"Will she be alright?" Jade asked one of the EMT's.

"Looks pretty rough, but doesn't appear to be a serious head injury" one of them responded. "We'll know once we get to the ER."

The paler woman sighed. It wasn't everyday that the one on the stretcher had more blush than the person riding with them.

Jade held Tori's hand tightly and insisted she squeeze her hand back. The half-Latina did, having something to focus on helped her keep awake.

* * *

Kermer sat in the back of the squad car in cuffs. Surely Jade would have the courts throw the book at him. She already had enough on him for embezzlement and corporate espionage. But now she clearly saw he intended to kill her, West would no longer show any mercy even for her own twisted pleasure.

He rested his bruised head on the window for a little while. The sudden stopping of the car made his head shift away from the window.

"What's this?" one of the officers queried.

There was a line of three black SUV's that blocked the police car's path.

He rolled down his window and called out, "HEY! MOVE YOUR VEHICLES THIS INSTANT!"

Two men emerged from one of the cars and started walking toward the stopped black and white.

"I'm sorry officers," one of the tall men said. "We've had some engine trouble and..."

 _ **POP! POP! POP! POP!**_

They fell for the old routine where one chats them up and the one standing right behind has his gun at the ready. The two boys in blue were both dead in their seats.

Leopold was sitting in terror in the backseat, trapped like a rat.

"No, don't. Please..." he pleaded.

* * *

Sikowitz was typing on his computer, probing deeper into the invention when the feeling of ice cold metal on his neck made him stop.

He slowly turned around, gradually raising his hands, the first thing he noticed being the gun aimed at him. He looked up and saw that it belonged to a tall, well-dressed fellow with slicked back hair.

"What's up, doc?"

"H-H-How did you get in here?" Sikowitz asked.

The gunman smirked and took out a disembodied hand from his coat pocket and threw it onto the white table. It was still pretty bloody on the amputated end, very fresh.

"Don't worry," the man said. "It won't be missed."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I know its been a while but the holidays have been CRAZY around here with relatives going in and out all the time. Literally had no quiet time to write anything. But I've seen a lot of people I follow leaving their readers with something before the year is over, so here is what I can give to you.**

 **It's not as long as I would've preferred but I'm at the final stages of being sick. I wish all of you a Happy New Year and good luck to 2018.**

* * *

Jade promptly jumped out of the back of the ambulance to not get in the way of the EMT's wheeling Tori out of it toward the emergency entrance. Flashing blue and red were soon replaced with stark white illumination. Jade never cared for how unforgivably bright hospitals were.

 _"Are they_ trying _to disorient people on purpose?"_

Given the incapacity of the patient and how Jade wasn't next of kin, paperwork was bypassed for the time being as they rushed Tori into triage.

A police car followed the ambulance over and the officers found Jade and started asking her further questions, this time focusing on her relationship with Tori and what she means to Leopold Kermer. They wondered if him and Tori had a previous quarrel, suggested by the viciousness of the assault. Jade knew that she did but kept that bit to herself, giving the cops as much factual information as she could without incrimination Tori or her.

In the back of her mind, Jade was worried that if Kermer squealed to get a reduced sentence if he helped hand over a notorious assassin, that would be it as far as Tori was concerned. Technically what she did was against the law but seeing the pondscum she had gunned down, they ought to present Tori with a medal.

But none of that matters if Tori isn't alright.

"Jade?"

The brunette turned away from the departing policemen and was face to face with a person she didn't expect.

"Cat? What are you doing here?"

The redhead looked around, temporarily distracted by the commotion of the ER. Jade instinctively took Cat's face in her hands to check on her bruises. The swelling in the one eye had gone down.

"Are you okay?"

"Doing better," Cat replied.

"So why are you here?" Jade asked again.

"Cops called me in to properly identify the guy who attacked me. Apparently, they had to clean him up somewhat before I could make a positive ID."

Jade raised an eyebrow.

"That bad, huh?"

Cat folded her arms and smirked, "His jaw had to be wired."

"Good," the brunette quipped.

The redhead sighed at the relief from seeing such a familiar and comforting friend. Its been a long day.

"And what brings you here?" Cat queried.

"Remember that woman you said you saw save you?"

Cat nodded, "Uh-huh"

Jade's body began fidgeting, certain that what she was about to say was going to sound insane.

"She kind of asked me out on a date and I said yes," she sheepishly answered.

"So...hospital..." Cat observed. "Did it go that bad...?"

The brunette plopped onto one of the nearby chairs.

"Worse."

Cat took the seat next to Jade. "What happened?"

"It's a long story."

* * *

Tori was on the table, doctors checking her eyes with the pen light. She was responsive, which was a good sign. It showed that Tori would likely recover; head injuries can be tricky. The slightest change in impact could be the difference between a minor concussion and a vegetative state.

In the half-Latina's case, she sustained a crack to the skull as proven by the x-ray. It was small and would heal completely in a few weeks with some antibiotics. The head wound itself from the blunt object (here, a chair leg) was wrapped up to keep the bleeding under control.

Once she seemed stable, doctors ordered Tori to be taken to one of the empty rooms in the ICU with a green flag. This warned the nurses that she was a falling risk.

* * *

"Oh man," said Cat. "That's some story. Well, can't say she didn't warn you that knowing her was going to be less than boring."

Jade exhaled. "It's funny, she swore she wanted to leave her violent life behind her. For _me_. Pretty crazy huh?"

"Its only crazy because you're suggesting you're not worth it."

Jade smiled at her dear friend.

"I still can't believe Leopold..." Cat mused. "I mean I got him coffee so many..."

"SHIT!"

"What?" the redhead asked, concerned.

"He asked about...something my dad worked on. Very secret."

"Dangerous?"

Jade shrugged, "Enough to kill for apparently. I better go." She stood up.

"Wait, why?" Cat asked, still seated.

"I need to get to the lab. I have to make sure its okay." Jade's posture then slunk. "But Tori...I can't just leave her here."

"I'll watch her."

"You would?" Jade asked.

"Of course. Just hurry back soon, because if she comes out of it she'll be asking for you."

"Thanks," Jade sighed and rushed out of the hospital.

* * *

"I'm not gonna ask again, doc. Where is it?"

Sikowitz looked up to his gracious host.

In his best Sean Connery voice, the scientist defiantly joked, "I left it with junior. With the benefit of hindsight I should have mailed it to the Marx Brothers."

The large fist that railed against his cheek sent the man flying across the room, spinning helplessly in the chair he was duck taped to. He finally stopped when he literally hit a wall. They made good on their threat to beat the information out of him if he refused to cooperate.

And Sikowitz wasn't planning to start now.

"Your insolence is tiresome."

The man in black marched over to the tied up man in white.

"See, that's why I think your boss picked you" Sikowitz smiled. "You got people skills."

Suddenly he felt himself being picked up, chair and all. Then he was swiftly tossed. That time Sikowitz landed on a metal table, banging his head.

"Wowwee, you're strong...and kind of blurry."

His eyes bulged out when the suited man grabbed him by the throat.

"What are you, crazy?"

"Well," he wheezed through his limited breathing. "I did spend three days in a sensory deprivation tank. True story, my assistant left and forgot he put me in there...

CLAPH!

Sikowitz figured the man wasn't charmed by his stories when he started squeezing tighter.

* * *

Jade stopped at Westbound Tower and swiped her card at the entrance. A screen flashed with a white space and a digital keyboard below. Jade typed in her secondary password and the door unlocked.

She entered the elevator and took out her phone. Jade was concerned because she tried calling Sikowitz the whole way over and got no answer.

One of the unique things she had programmed into her private phone was an app that accessed the security system. She could see cameras and check records of who entered the offices. Jade pulled up the surveillance feed in the lab but found little going on, except what looks like the arm of some large man. Clearly not Sikowitz. Then Jade pulled up the history of the lab, who went in and out and when. And according to today's log, the last person to enter was Leopold Kermer.

The time stamp on the entry didn't mesh with the time of his attack and arrest.

Somebody made it in there... _somehow_. And Sikowitz not returning her calls has Jade deathly worried.

She was through with tonight's insanity and violence, but tonight might not be through with her.

* * *

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you!"

The man relaxed his grip, allowing the scientist to breathe normally once more. He picked him up and set him onto the floor as he was before.

"See that box over there?" he asked, flicking his head in the direction.

The guy turned around and picked up the device.

"This thing? This is Project Ghost?"

Sikowitz winced and reluctantly replied "Yes."

"Bullshit!"

"What?"

"It looks like a cable box."

"I assure it isn't," the bald man rolled his eyes. "I can prove it."

The mountain of a man examined the curious and unassuming little black box. Maybe its inventor intended on making his device look so ordinary. What better way to keep something safe than making it appear common and valueless.

"Okay, doc. How does it work?"

"Look, the thing is...I've only just gotten the thing. I was still learning how it works. I haven't exactly tested it yet," he lied.

"Really?"

He gently put down the machine and gripped what little hair remained on the scientist's scalp.

"Then I guess we're going for a ride. Looks like you bought yourself a little more time."

"I don't think so," came a female voice.

The well-dressed muscle turned around and was quickly met with a sucker punch to the jaw. He went down like a ton of concrete, causing the floor to shake with his landing.

Jade briefly checked the toppled bad guy. He appeared to be knocked out, for the moment. She knelt down and commanded the armor to turn her right hand into a razor-sharp wedge. That was enough to cut Sikowitz from his restraints.

"Jade?"

The armor receded from her face, revealing it was her.

"Oh, thank the coconut maker; I'm happy to see you!"

"Man, you look like hell" Jade remarked.

"Hey, you'd look bad too if Lurch over there was jerking you around like a Frisbee."

Jade peeked back at the man. Still not moving.

"What happened?"

Sikowitz rose to his feet, cracking his neck and grateful to be free of his predicament.

"I was working on some research about the...you-know-what...and then he crept up behind me. He had a gun. Then again, had I known he was as strong as he was, the piece would've been unnecessary."

"What did he know?" Jade asked.

"Not much, I think" Sikowitz replied. "He knew the name and that it was here but that seemed to be it. Whoever the leak was knew less than we do." He rubbed his head, examining the situation. "I still don't know how the hell he got in here."

Jade held up her phone from a temporary hole in the armor that allowed her to access her pocket.

"It was Kermer. That was the access used."

Sikowitz pointed to the table to Jade's immediate right.

"Oh, so that's whose hand that is."

"Eww," Jade winced. "Happen to get any info out of mongo here between punches?"

"Nothing. He wasn't dumb but he was hardly more than a lug, a muscle. Someone else is pulling the strings."

"Someone powerful enough to scare a scumbag like Leopold," Jade added. "You should really see a doctor. You might have hurt your head badly. Wish this wasn't the second time I thought that tonight..."

ARRRRRRGHHGGGH!

Jade was struck at the base of her neck between her shoulder blades. The force was enough to make her lose her senses and fall down. She gazed up at the seething goon who has made a speedy recovery.

"Ah, shit" Jade breathed.

The giant attempted to step over Jade's body to get back at Sikowitz but Jade ordered the armor to wrap itself around the man's legs. It stopped him but he proved strong enough to drag Jade. She had to get her wits about her or she was going to lose this fight.

Jade withstood bullets and now was the time to put the armor to the next test. How would she fare against an immovable object?

She got up and stepped between her and her friend. The bully grimaced and threw a punch but the armor absorbed it. Jade knew she had to sacrifice her protection in the rear but had to further strengthen the barrier up front. The microscopic nanobots joined forces with the rest of the north side of the human suit and made it thicker than before. It was Jade's only shot.

He landed blow after blow and nothing was happening. And for whatever didn't land, Jade managed to dodge. As the man moved, she moved along with him. She thought back to when her and her father watched the main event on pay-per-view. Jade learned classic techniques boxers used when they wanted to tire an opponent out. He would dance around, rope-a-dope; anything to make the other guy get exhausted while protecting his own self from injury.

As the punches were noticeably getting less forceful, Jade knew her strategy was working.

 **BLAM!**

The big man fell forward, causing Jade to jump out of the way. She looked up, confused and saw Sikowitz brandishing a pistol.

"You shot him?"

Sikowitz shrugged, "That was starting to get boring. Besides, asshole threw me across the room and was very rude."

Jade sighed and threw up her hands.

"Well, as Cat would say, I'm a little funned out today."

* * *

Tori opened her eyes, overcome with the mother of all migraines.

"Lay still," a voice calmly ordered.

Unwilling to move her head for fear of exacerbating the pounding in her brain, Tori moved her eyeballs sideways to find the source of the words.

Sure enough, a petite redhead was by her bedside. But not just any redhead, the very one who she helped back in that dingy apartment building the other night. Impossible.

"What the...where is Jade?" she whispered.

Cat sat down to be closer to eye level with Tori.

"She had to quickly take care of something," Cat replied. "I guess it couldn't wait."

She could tell the tan woman's face was of concern and disappointment.

"It isn't like that," Cat reassured her. "She wouldn't go until I promised to watch over you. And after telling me who you were, I was happy to."

"Oh," was all Tori managed to say.

"I'm glad to meet you," Cat said, taking Tori's limp hand. "Thank you...so much."

"It's nothing," Tori sighed.

Cat's eyes widened. "Not to ME it wasn't."

Tori let out a small smile. Jade was right about her spunky little friend.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: It's been ZERO DEGREES over here! what fun :-p But it has started warming up today.**

 **Now that the holidays have finally gone through, I can hope to get back on schedule and not have you wait more than half a month between updates.**

 **I've been trying to carefully outline every step of the story from here on in so I can just quickly rap off the remaining chapters. Still a ways to go yet.**

* * *

Downtown at Municipal One, the Kinopolis Police Department has become rather acquainted with Jade West.

In less than two weeks, she has either been the victim or within the vicinity of a crime on half a dozen occasions.

The bearded chief behind the desk acknowledged the businesswoman as she passed him.

"I should just have a mug with your name on it," he grumbled jokingly.

"Not if Reynolds is still brewing it. Kid doesn't know what he's doing."

"Hey!"

Jade turned around and saw the aforementioned rookie.

"I'm standing right here," Reynolds complained.

"I knew you were," Jade smirked and continued to walk down the all too familiar corridors.

When she first got here regarding her burglary, she had to be escorted by detectives through the maze of doors and hallways. Now, Jade knew her way from the interrogations rooms, to the viewing room where they have victims see the criminal lineup, the chief's office...its become as much of a second home as the lab at Westbound Tower.

Speaking of which, Jade was curious about the origin of "Lurch," as she dubbed the massive but well-dressed man who took her old friend at gunpoint. Being declared dead at the scene, police began checking through his wallet and taking fingerprints. The question on everybody's mind was why. Jade knew the answer but just like with Tori, she was unsure of how candid she ought to be about the situation. It did concern of a technology that (she thought) no one knew about.

Jade entered Interrogation Room #4 and sat down, waiting for the detectives to give her the dope on the guy.

Before the authorities arrived, Jade grilled Sikowitz because their stories had to be straight. What happened between Sikowitz and the suspect was as he remembered, minus the specific mention of 'Project Ghost'. Then Jade showed up because he hadn't called her back in a while. Her phone records would confirm it had been almost 24 hours since they last communicated. Then she decided to visit the lab, caught sight of Sikowitz being tied up while the big guy scoped the place out. Once he returned, the pair got the drop on him. There was a struggle, indicated by how roughed up Sikowitz looked and a small scratch on Jade's head from the fight at the restaurant earlier that night. Seeing his old friend's only daughter in danger, Sikowitz grabbed the man's gun and fired.

She was pretty sure that the story would hold water for the cops. Sure enough, the two plain clothes officers entered and sat across from Jade.

"You seem to be on some pretty bad radars these days, Ms. West" quipped the older gentleman.

Jade just folded her arms, less than amused.

"And thoughts as to why?" asked his partner.

"I dunno," Jade shrugged. "I'm rich, kind of famous, not bad-looking, or so I'm told."

The pair exchanged gazes.

"You see," the younger cop continued. "The way we found the lab was clear that the suspect was looking for something."

"There's a ton of projects in there that haven't seen the light of day," Jade said. "It could have been anything. I'm sure my employee didn't know either, or he would look less worse for the wear and Lurch would be long gone."

The older man said, "Lucky for your employee that you were there."

"Yeah luck," the younger one added. "Or maybe...you just have that knack for attracting trouble."

"From what I gather, all this trouble began shortly before letting go of a long-time executive. I wouldn't be surprised if he masterminded everything from the attempt on my life from last week to the break-in to my apartment. Probably wanted me out of the way before I found out his embezzlement."

The detectives took Jade's words into account. Either she ran over a black cat, or somebody with the means and motive was trying to facilitate her demise. With the exception of the construction crane incident; that was purely bad luck.

Jade was not caring for the candor of these dicks. They didn't come across as corrupt or anything, but she was getting a smarmy vibe from them. After being fucked over by Leopold Kermer, Jade tried to sharpen her emotional intelligence and better read people. They are definitely hiding something but Jade came prepared. During her efforts to beef up security, Jade came across this little gem that Sikowitz whipped up a couple of years ago. It was a microphone capable of broadcasting clear sound to whomever is holding the corresponding radio. The best part is that the components are almost completely transparent.

"I'm sorry, boys but I have a dear friend to visit in the hospital."

The cops nodded and all three stood up and shook hands. Jade was less trusting of the younger cop, so she planted the device on the older man. With a slight of hand, he didn't notice during the whole exchange that Jade slipped it onto his wristwatch. That's one thing she admired from older people, or just classier-dressed people. They still wore watches and didn't rely completely on their phones. And if you were lucky, you could catch a man with a pocket watch on a matching chain but those were rare.

"Thank you, gentlemen" Jade added. "I enjoy your company but I really hope we don't meet again anytime soon."

"Likewise," the senior officer nodded.

* * *

Cat texted furiously on her phone, all caps, asking Jade what was keeping her.

Jade replied back with vague answers like "it's a long story" or "I'll explain later, promise."

Before she could reach out to Jade again, the redhead's eyes looked up to see Jade in the doorway. Her hair was all mussed and looked out of breath.

"What happened to you?" Cat asked.

Blue-green eyes just glared back at her. This woman was even more tired than when she left. Something had certainly happened.

"I'll be fine. When you head home, don't be thrown by the police cars."

Cat's eyes widened and quickly her eyelids lowered.

"Because of course there are," she shrugged. "How am I safer near you again?"

Jade gave her best friend a strong hug (as she could manage) and Cat reluctantly reciprocated. She was too tired to stay mad at this insane person she grew to call a friend. How many people could she think of that would run across town in a heartbeat at the sound of danger? What friend would give you a much larger place to live with better security and lower rent? And would also send a small army of movers to get every last thing out of your apartment in under 24 hours? She also threatened Cat's previous landlord with heavy litigation on the lax security at his building if he so much as kept a penny of her deposit. Jade even sent a flyer to every resident, promising them a better apartment and employment if they call this number.

How many people would go through all that trouble? Cat's mind came up with zilch. Jade was a whole heap of trouble, yes, but doesn't that come with the territory when trying to devote your life to doing the right thing? Running across Jade was both the luckiest and nerve-racking moment of her life. And she would do it all over again.

Cat waved bye to Tori and exited with a yawn.

Jade closed the door and made her way to Tori. She was as tall as her, if not a bit more. But laying there in that hospital bed made her seem small.

"I woke up..." Tori said with a raspy voice. "And then you were gone."

The dark-haired one felt so guilty as she clutched Tori's hand.

"I'm sorry, babe. But I had something I needed to see to. And good thing, too because I was able to help a friend."

Tori's face looked concerned. "What do you mean?"

"Someone broke into the lab and threatened Sikowitz."

"Psycho-what?"

Jade smiled and explained, "He's a scientist and a friend of my father's since I was little. He's like a strange uncle, really."

"Is he alright?"

"Yeah," Jade nodded. "Just a little banged up. Some gigantic motherfucker with a hand cannon got inside and was looking for a secret machine my dad invented. Practically nobody knows about it." Practically, as in Alex West kept it a secret but there were ears apparently. Plus he spilled the beans in a note meant for his daughter's eyes only. "But it turns out someone does. Full disclosure..." Jade leaned in and whispered. "I sort of bugged a cop at the station tonight."

Tori raised an eyebrow. "Didn't imagine I would be that bad of an influence," she smirked.

It made Jade's heart glad that the Tori she had decided to let in was returning despite her depleted strength and injury.

"Hear anything?" Tori asked.

"On the way over, I had my headset on. They mostly discussed what I knew, why was this rich bitch such a lightning rod for trouble, blah blah blah. But when they found out the big man was a hired gun for a Mr. Hand, that got my attention. The name sounds kind of familiar but I'm not 100%. But back in the day, he was a big deal and this ogre was his right hand man. But now he's dead, which sucks because the cops will have to figure out where this Mr. Hand guy is on their own."

 _"Or on MY own,"_ Tori thought.

Two hours went by, but only half that time was spent talking. The two women just enjoyed one another's company.

"You're going it again."

"What?" blinked Jade.

"You're starting to nod off. Why don't you go home and get some sleep?"

"No way," a yawning Jade protested. "I'll just stay here."

Tori moved her head once right to left in a faint shake. "I don't think so. All you got is that little chair and by how Cat walked after getting off it, didn't look very comfortable."

"But what about you?"

"What about me?" Tori said. "I've got a bed for the night. And so do you...at home. You deserve a goodnight's rest."

Jade huffed and stood up.

"Okay, but you'd better sleep too. Because I'm coming back first thing in the morning. I think I earned myself a day off."

That last thing made Tori a bit sad. But she knew what she had to do and just hoped Jade would forgive her.

"Wait a second..."

"Yeah, Tori?"

"Can I get one more kiss?"

"Just one?" Jade asked in that sultry way that made Tori get goosebumps.

"One...long one," Tori replied pointing to her lips.

The space between the two brunettes got smaller and smaller until they could feel the heat from their breathing. When their lips met, an even greater fire sparked. Jade wasn't the biggest fan of tongue kissing but she finally gave Tori permission to enter and it was glorious. Now she understood what the fuss was all about.

When the kiss broke, Jade placed one more on Tori's forehead. Her lips were still burning but that last one on the head meant the most to her, so that was where Tori's hand went as she watched Jade wave goodbye and disappear from the room.

* * *

Jade's ears were assaulted with the decibel equivalent of a sledgehammer. That caused her to fall out of bed. It was far from pleasant, but it was necessary.

Jade wasn't the type to play a delicate little jingle or just what was on the radio to wake up. No, the heavy sleeper needed something more potent in her alarm clock. So she selected an air raid siren. Not the type they played in the Midwest during tornado season but what a naval base might sound when they were under aerial assault.

If it works, it works. Jade was in the shower within ninety seconds.

Standing under the steamy water, Jade couldn't help but acknowledge how this shower was big enough for two. Need to remember for another time. Her security app finally booted up once she got out of the shower indicated that everything was good, no suspicious entries. Jade had checked the program shortly after getting home and was relieved that Cat had in fact arrived in good time.

Jade was racking her brain as to what else she could do. She assumed Westbound Tower was built like a fortified castle but enemies kept find their way in. Having everyone she cares about under one roof helped with her anxiety but it was far from gone. Once her network was more secure, Jade could be able to invite Tori in it. What if someone from her past were to find her? It's entirely possible that someone like Tori had made some enemies over the years.

Could Jade guarantee her safety? Or the safety of everyone else? She wished she could protect everyone from the monsters.

After throwing on one of her many black t-shirts and a pair of boot-cut jeans, she was off. Jade decided to driver herself and just park in the structure attached to the hospital. She was sure that her whole day was going to be spent by Tori's side. Jade preferred not to make Randy wait around for hours on her account.

On her way, Jade passed a florist and thinking better of it, did a U-turn and went over. She picked up a bouquet of plain white lilies with a single red rose in the middle. Jade then borrowed a pen to write in the blank card to accompany the flowers. The note read: _This is how I see you. A beautiful rose that stands apart from the crowd._ She could have just told Tori the significance of the arrangement but thought it'd be better read.

The hospital did offer flowers but they were kind of generic and not this nice. Jade managed to strap in the flowers in the passenger seat. The glass vase they sat in was surrounded on both sides by big Styrofoam bricks. Despite the added stability, Jade drove the rest of the way carefully. Wasn't difficult given she left at the start of morning traffic. Fridays and Mondays were always the worst.

* * *

Jade got off the elevator at the third floor to ICU and made her was toward Tori's room and quickly noticed how dark it looked.

 _"Maybe she's still asleep."_

Holding the flowers in the case, Jade turned around and used her elbow to push down on the handle and opened the door with her bottom.

Jade placed the flowers down on the little counter area where the sink was to rest her arms. She scanned the room, looking for a light. Not being able to locate the switch, she saw the slit of sunlight coming it an unfurled the curtains halfway. They managed not to shed light onto the bed for the patient's benefit. Jade figured designing hospital rooms must be an OCD nightmare.

She walked over silently and touched the bulge onto bed for what Jade assumed was Tori's head and suddenly the whole thing collapsed. The bed was completely flat. Jade's eyes widened as she looked around the bed, thinking Tori might have fallen. Then she opened the bathroom and flicked on the light. No sign of her anywhere. A panicked Jade was about to scream for help out into the corridor when a note taped to the inside of the door stopped her.

It said: "TO JADE."

The brunette had a bad feeling about this and quickly unfolded the note written on yellow legal paper, probably from one of the nurses.

 _"Jade, I am so sorry for making you worry. I'm fine but I can't risk contacting you until the job is done. I swore to you that I wasn't a killer anymore. And I don't want to be. But nobody threatens you or your friends. I have had it and I'm going to end it. Please don't hate me. I didn't know what love was until you came back to me and refused to leave. Don't worry, Jade. It will all be over soon. Love-Tori."_


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Things are gonna be picking up here.**

* * *

Cat awoke to a pounding on her door, surprised from her slumber. Her feet met the floor and she began staggering to the front door like a baby giraffe learning to walk. Cat looked through the peephole, seeing it was Jade, and started unlocking the door. The moment the deadbolt clicked, the brunette stormed right on in. Cat was half-asleep but that snapped her wide awake.

Jade looked back at her flustered friend, emerging from behind the door to close it.

"Jade, its you. Come on in," Cat said with a deadpan tone.

"Sorry," the brunette said contritely, realizing how rudely she entered the apartment.

The redhead looked closer at her friend and saw that she had been crying.

"What's wrong?"

Jade rubbed her arms as fresh tears rolled down.

"She's gone," Jade replied.

"What? Who?"

"Tori..." she said, sitting down. "I went to the hospital this morning and she wasn't there. Nobody saw her leave; must have been before sunrise - that's when they say their nurses change shifts."

Cat sat next to her. "So she just disappeared? No call or..."

Jade wordlessly handed Cat the piece of paper Tori had written the note on. She read it carefully.

"So what does she mean by that?" Cat asked, confused.

"I planted a bug on one of the police detectives from last night."

Cat sighed, "As you do..."

Jade appreciated the redhead's pointed sarcasm, it was the levity she needed. She went on to explain further.

"I may have mentioned that the man who broke into the lab was under the employ of a Mr. Hand. At least that's what the cops called him."

"Who or what is Mr. Hand?"

The brunette threw up her hands.

"No goddamn idea! I was going to investigate but I was so tired when I got home and then I woke up and went straight to the hospital and..."

"Hey, hey," Cat hugged Jade tightly. "Its okay. Its been a weird few days for all of us."

Jade wiped her eyes and smiled.

"Thanks, Cat."

The redhead stood and walked over to the kitchen. She began brewing come coffee.

"Want some coffee?" she asked.

"Look who you're asking," Jade replied with a sniff.

The little white machine began percolating.

"Still drink French Roast?" she asked.

Cat shook her head. "No. I've been getting into Colombian; less bitter." She then leaned against the doorway leading to the kitchen. "So, you think Tori will go after this guy?"

"It's possible," Jade replied. "I mean from what she's told me, her knowledge of the criminal underbelly of Kinopolis gives her a step up from the cops."

"You're worried she will succeed," Cat figured.

* * *

Trash cans fell over from the impact of Josh Franklin, a local dealer with some ties to some big names.

His head was spinning, so his surroundings were all a blur. But there was no mistake that the tall woman was approaching him again.

PUNCH!

"Where is he?" she demanded.

Franklin touched his mouth with his forefinger and stared at the blood. She was everything the rumors said.

That means she wasn't going to give him respite until he gave up the information.

This time, she pulled his hair. Franklin yelped like a dog.

"TELL. ME."

"I told you, I didn't see his face or know where he is. I've only been approached to work for him."

"And you don't know what he looks like?" she asked.

Franklin admitted, "He...uh...wore a mask."

Tori tilted her head, realizing the irony.

"Fair enough, but what do you expect?"

* * *

Jade tapped away on Cat's laptop while the pair sip their coffee.

"Mr. Hand..." Cat read, looking over Jade's shoulder. "was a robber who hit up four banks."

"Doesn't sound like the criminal mastermind he's building up to be," Jade remarked.

Cat pointed to the screen. "And it looks like he vanished eight years ago. Accomplices have been apprehended but none of them could give anything on Mr. Hand. The guy's a phantom."

Jade shook her head.

"I just don't understand. A fucking bank robber? Doesn't add up."

* * *

Franklin's head hit the asphalt once again, the recent rain making it extra cold.

He held his torso, certain his ribs were busted from that last one.

"Listen, listen..." he held up his hands, defensively. "This guy is different."

"How?"

"I mean, he paid good. But he had problems with guys asking for extra."

She gripped his shirt and drug his closer.

"What are you talking about?"

"There was a time when we took over an armored truck. It had $2 million in there but he didn't give us more than $10,000 a piece, what we agreed upon. He held up a gun to all of us and dared us to walk away with a penny more. He actually said we made a third of what many make in a year from a single day's work and we should be happy with that."

"What happened to the rest of the money?" Tori asked.

Franklin chuckled nervously, shaking his head. "I don't know. Ask him, if you can find him."

She slammed him against the wall and held a bayonet to his jugular.

"How do I know you haven't been bullshitting me this whole time?"

He looked down at the ground and looked back up into her "eyes."

"Either I'm lying and you kill me because you know I'm lying. Or I tell the truth and you kill me anyway because you got what you already wanted out of me."

Tori relaxed the blade.

"Good point."

She started walking away while Franklin collapsed, holding his throat and coughing.

"If I don't find what I'm looking for because of you, I'll be back later."

* * *

"So what do we do?" Cat asked.

Jade paced around the living room, pondering the question.

"We need to intercept Tori before she finds Mr. Hand. If she does, she _will_ kill him."

Cat looked concerned. "Because he's a threat."

"She won't hesitate," Jade explained.

"But I thought she didn't want to kill anymore."

Jade shrugged.

"She did...she does...Cat, if someone broke into your home and threatened your family and you had a gun...would you not use it?"

Cat looked out the window, imaging the frightening scenario.

"I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't do whatever was necessary."

Jade smiled and patted the redhead's shoulder.

"What's the plan?" Cat asked.

"Let's get down to the lab. I'll call Sikowitz."

* * *

On the other side of town, Holy Mother Church, an abandoned cathedral lay overlooking the wharves. The once magnificent building stood at a maximum height of forty feet. At least half of the stained glass windows were broken, primarily from rocks. The brickwork was crumbing in some places but the whole structure maintained somewhat. It just looked like any other condemned property in the city. Especially in this part of town.

The only reason this remained was as church property, it was considered privately-owned. But the diocese has been scuttlebutt when it came to real estate matters. Obviously they're going to put their energy in an active house of worship.

Nobody had known that this building had been taken up as residence a long time ago by a man.

A man whose methods were anything but pure.

Terry Thomas was sleeping in the old priest's office down in the basement when a knock came to the door. He snapped awake and planted his feet on the floor. Beneath his desk, he reached for his mask and fixed it onto his head. This completely obscured his face and was always worn within the presence of absolutely anyone. When Thomas was all alone, it was indeed a relief to remove it. But it was necessary.

"Come in!"

The door knob turned and in walked a twenty-something boy named Kyle. He was fresh out of the halfway house when Thomas took him in a few weeks ago. He promised him a lot of money quickly so as to avoid drugs and carjacking. The street kid felt his heart drop. Ever since he was very little, clowns particularly spooked him.

The mask Thomas wore was a classic black and white Pagliacci but with one odd feature. The nose was elongated, strikingly similar to Cyrano de Bergerac. Under ordinary circumstances, such a sight would have evoked delight in most people. But those like Kyle who had the displeasure to get close enough to the elusive "Mr. Hand" knew that behind that mask was a fiercely intelligent maniac who would sooner destroy you if you crossed him or merely questioned his methods. That made the absurdist mask surrounded by inadequate light all the more unsettling.

"She got another one, boss."

Thomas just thought about the latest information. He had been getting reports like this all morning long. His eyes and ears outside this church are being bruised, broken and left bleeding.

"Do...do...do you think its the same one?"

Mr. Hand stood up and held both hands behind his back.

"No, Kyle. I expect there are a dozen 5'10 women who are all after me. I was never _that_ popular."

The dopey kid smirked and began to chuckle at the moment of self-depreciating humor. But Mr. Hand turned swiftly, staring him down silently. He showed with body language and no words that he didn't say what he said for his amusement. The hapless boy promptly shut his trap and searched for a new subject.

"Do you want me to return on watch?"

"I think that would be wise," Mr. Hand replied.

When the kid was brought on board, his number one task was to monitor the grounds and give warning of any approaching threats. Kyle figured it was a bit much, considering that nobody frequents this part of town anyway, let alone a dilapidated church. But his boss made it this far without being caught and was still a force to be reckoned with among the criminal community. Mr. Hand thought of everything which made him always stay a step ahead of those wanting to take him down. His intelligence and ruthlessness made him something of a legend.

And when he caught wind of another legendary figure in pursuit of him, Mr. Hand regarded it as a minor problem. But he kept an eye on her progress.

* * *

"Why don't I just live here?" Sikowitz yawned, referring to the lab.

Jade simply rolled her eyes. He had a point but now wasn't the time to argue.

"We need to find Tori," she explained.

Sikowitz barely knew anything about the woman Jade was currently seeing. But he knew this; she really must mean a great deal to her. Sikowitz hadn't seen this much agency in Jade since news of her father's helicopter going missing.

"Do we have anything to go on?" he asked.

Cat chimed in, "Only that she was looking for some crook named Mr. Hand or whatever..."

The balding man practically leapt across the room and gripped the petite woman's arms.

"Did you just say Mr. Hand?"

"Y-y-yeah," she stuttered.

"You know him?" Jade asked.

Sikowitz's eyes widened. "Of course! He was a big deal years ago. Knocked over the major banks of the city."

"They caught some of the guys who worked for him but they didn't have anything for the cops."

"Right," he told Jade as he let Cat go. "But Mr. Hand himself always gave them the slip." His face fell. "Are you afraid he has Tori?"

Jade moved a chair aside to get closer to the scientist.

"Not really. I'm worried she will kill him."

He retorted "I fail to see the problem, Jade."

Jade sighed heavily and got much closer to him.

"Listen to me," she started. "Best case scenario, she kills him and broke her vow to never take another life. Or worse, he gets the jump on her and plants a bullet in her head."

Sikowitz let that sink in and started thinking.

"Well, unfortunately we can't find out anything about Tori's whereabouts until she does something."

Jade sat Cat down and handed her a pair of headphones. She opened a laptop and started typing. After a few seconds, she plugged the headphones into the jack on the side and told Cat to put them on. The redhead obliged.

"I connected my signal from the police to this computer. Listen to the headset for anything. I have a feeling Tori is going to be punching her way through for information. With any luck, maybe we can work out a path. Just listen carefully, Cat"

The redhead looked at how the brunette's eyes were practically saying 'please' and nodded with a small smile.

"I will, Jade."

"Thank you."

She turned and saw Sikowitz rummaging through her bag.

"Hey!" protested Jade.

"Ah," he said, holding the cube in his hand. "Now let's talk upgrade."

Jade raised an eyebrow. "Upgrade?"

Sikowitz replied, "This armor is pretty good now, but you're gonna need something better if you are going to be facing Mr. Hand."

"Why?" Jade asked. "He's just some small time crook with delusions of grandeur."

The older man blinked.

"There is nothing small time about this guy. He is going to be heavily armed if you come across him. Not to mention he is a master of explosives. You not only need to withstand damage; you'll need to deliver it too."

Jade looked back on her two bouts from the night before and they were rather sloppy. Jade wasn't much of a fighter outside the schoolyard.

"Just let me work on this while you two search for Tori," Sikowitz said.

Jade nodded and jumped on another computer opposite of where Cat was.

Sikowitz held the cube in his hands.

 _"I sure hope they find her,"_ he thought.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Another chapter so soon? Got a lucky break and things slowed down a bit at work.**

 **No overtime for a while, which means less money but more time in the day to write.**

 **Bad news for me, good news for you ;-)**

* * *

Benny Shaw ran out of the nearby SpeedyMart with a brown bag of odds and ends. He went over the list once, twice, three, four times. He did not want to forget a single thing. The boss would be upset if Benny returned without all of the provisions spelled out on the handwritten list. Every couple of days, Benny made a delivery of common essentials like milk and bread to the abandoned church at the edge of town.

But it was anything but abandoned.

He never saw his face (no one has apparently) but all Benny needed to know was he was asked to do supply runs twice a week. Again, it was your standard items but now and again, Shaw would be required to bring in gasoline or maybe some tape and nylon rope from the hardware store. Benny knew better than to ask too many questions. He figured a man who went by the dubious moniker Mr. Hand appreciated a sense of anonymity.

Benny was also on edge particularly today when rumors of a rogue lurking in the shadows began to circulate. Whoever this woman was, she didn't show mercy. He figured the only reason she left her prey alive was to alert their friends and let the fear spread among the Kinopolis underworld. Probably gets off on generating such anxiety in the hearts of killers, thieves and deviants.

Any man who so much as dipped their toe in the sea of corruption was not safe from her wrath.

 _"I'm not doing anything wrong,"_ he told himself. _"I'm just following orders. Hell, there's nothing different from what I do that someone does for an old shut-in."_

Benny unlocked his white van, placed the groceries on the passenger seat and shut the door. He walked around and hopped into the driver's side.

Gripping the steering wheel, he looked down at his knuckles as the color faded.

"I'm just a delivery boy," Benny admitted out loud.

Without warning, a force came over his head that mushed him into the headrest. In his peripheral vision, Benny spotted a gun barrel.

"That's very good," said an unseen female voice.

But he knew who it belonged to.

"Keep your hands on the wheel and look forward," she ordered. "And nothing funny like mouthing for help; I can see your reflection in the window."

Benny had no choice but to oblige, fearing there was a gun still trained on him. Hell, how did he know for sure that this woman was alone? He heard the sound of tape being ripped from the roll. The gun vanished briefly as the masking tape was across his forehead and wrapped tightly around the seat behind him.

"W-w-w-what do you want?" he whimpered, certain he was going to be executed.

"Shut up," the woman demanded.

Once she was finished with fixing Benny to his driver's seat, she raised that pistol back in his line of sight, which was now much more limited since he couldn't turn his head anymore.

"I'm looking for someone and a boy matching your description has been known to frequent this person."

"...uh..."

Tori interrupted the hapless guy.

"And...I've got a couple of third parties who have seen you driving this van in..." she pointed with the gun's barrel. "...that direction."

Benny's eyes darted to the right immediately.

"Now, _what_..." Tori began fucking with the kid mentally by playing with his hair. "would you be doing there? Nothing but relics of old town and docks. And you don't strike me as a longshoreman. So, who are these..." she titled the brown bag to see better inside. "...who are these for?"

He started breathing heavier. Benny thought he was going to have a heart attack.

"He...I..."

"Hope you're a better driver than a talker, slick" Tori dryly said. "Now drive."

"Drive?" Benny asked.

"That's right," she replied, pressing that cold metal to his temple. "I'm going where this bag is going. And that's all there is to it. Do you understand?"

He sat there in silent terror.

Tori huffed. "I can't see you nod your head, so you're gonna have to tell me that you understand."

"I.I..I.I...I...un...un..un..understand..."

"Great," Tori said. "And mind that speed limit and any traffic lights. I don't want to get pulled over. Oh..." she then undid his seat belt. "and if you try to run us off the road, you'll get fucked up too."

Benny turned the key and very stiffly began driving toward his destination. And nobody in the parking lot was any of the wiser.

* * *

"Try this."

Jade looked up from her computer. She felt as if her eyes were hanging out of their sockets. Sikowitz was grinning like a damn fool holding the seemingly same cube as before.

"I don't get it," she said.

The scientist rolled his eyes.

"Just put on the armor and check it out!"

She has known Sikowitz long enough to know that when he is excitable about something, tread lightly. With caution Jade grabbed the tech specs and put them on. Sikowitz then handed over the cube to her and stepped back like a doctor about to take an x-ray.

"You're not making me feel secure, Sikowitz."

"It'll be fine, Jade" he assured her. "I'm just...giving you room."

Jade shook her head as she turned toward Cat.

"Can you believe this guy..."

But her friend had already made a hasty retreat some two tables over.

"Gee, thanks you two."

She turned on the glasses and the swarm of insignificant nanobots began enveloping her. Jade was getting more and more used to putting this exoskeleton on. And strangely the armor itself was getting accustomed to Jade. It used to completely bury her. Now, it stops right at the neckline upon the initial engagement. Only when Jade commands does it form the protective helmet, completing the suit.

Were these little bots aware that it was the same wearer; remembering previous preference? Did the software give them the capacity to learn even further? Was there a very basic AI component inside these things?

 _"Need to investigate further,"_ Jade thought.

"Alright," she said referring to Sikowitz. "Now what?"

He rubbed his hands together in gleeful anticipation.

"Activate Sphere Mode."

Jade hesitated before ordering the armor, "Activate Sphere Mode." Without warning, her feet left the ground. "Holy shit!"

She thought she would rise to the high ceiling but instead ceased ascension in the middle of the room. Cat slowly approached Jade with her jaw dropped. Sikowitz ran more enthusiastically toward her.

"It works!" he exclaimed.

"SIKOWITZ! GET ME DOWN! WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?"

He grinning as he walked around the woman suspended inexplicably in mid-air.

" _That_ Jade is what we in the inventing community would like to call a happy accident. See, I was developing a kind of force-field to supplement the protective nature of the armor. But it didn't exactly work the way I wanted it to. Instead of making the area around you stronger against outside forces, its actually resisting the outside forces. In other words, right now the shield is pushing you away from the ceiling _and_ the floor, creating this buoyancy phenomenon."

Cat touched his arm.

"Let me see if I got this straight. In trying to make an energy field impervious to harm, you unwittingly created flight?"

Sikowitz folded his arms, "Well I consider that quite the oversimplification..."

"GET! ME! DOWN! NOW!"

They both regarded the increasingly irritated brunette above them. She was already not in the best of moods and the repealing of the law of gravity is not helping.

"Okay, Jade now listen to me. Face forward like you're lying down on your stomach."

Jade could feel the beginnings of a queasiness in her guts. This must be what it feels like for astronauts in orbit. Sure enough, she achieve the horizontal position with great ease.

"Now turn on your thrusters."

"WHAT?" Jade asked.

He explained, "Your upgrade required...another upgrade. Look, without a propulsion system its just ground effects. You need momentum to create flight."

"Do you hear yourself? I don't want to _fly_!"

Sikowitz held up his hands.

"Alright, alright, alright, alright" he spat rapidly. "Just give the command, turn down."

Jade breathed deeply and repeated the words through gritted teeth.

"Turn do..."

Suddenly, the gravity-defying Jade sped through the lab, throwing desks and chairs and equipment in her wake. In the blink of an eye she went from approaching the white wall at the end to completely disappearing, a perfect round hole in the wall left behind. A bird from the city outside landed on the edge of the hole.

"That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?" Cat asked.

"It would appear that the voice recognition software misheard Jade and thought she said Turbo."

Cat leaned in and whispered, "There's a turbo function?"

"Oh, yes" he said nervously.

"She's gonna kill you, you know."

Sikowitz patted Cat's shoulder.

"Oh yes."

* * *

Window washers on a platform seventeen stories in the air felt a violent gust of wind. Such things were not uncommon at this altitude but the two cleaners swore they vaguely heard the sound of a woman screaming during that gust.

Jade was rocketing through block after block of downtown Kinopolis. It was like she was trapped on an out of control monorail built for one.

 _"How do I stop this fucking thing?"_ echoed through her brain.

She knew she had to choose her words carefully. If Jade completely powered down the flight function, she would then start plummeting to the ground like a rock.

"SLOW DOWN!" she managed to shout.

Indeed, her speed decreased significantly almost straight away. Looking down, she noticed a building below her feet and ordered "Power down Thrusters. Deactivate Sphere Mode."

The armor complied and Jade was dropped unforgivably onto the rooftop. Fortunately, she was only ten feet above it and landed with relatively little pain. Jade held her heart, trying to control her breathing again. She then noticed a vibrating in her pocket and took out her phone.

Looking at it, Jade saw she had three missed calls in succession from Cat just now. A new one came up and Jade slid the button to answer.

"Yeah."

Jade listened to Cat's panicked shouting until she was given the ability to talk.

"I'm fucking fine." She made her way to the edge of the building and looked down. "You know what? Better send the helicopter."

* * *

The van drove up to the abandoned church and Benny put it in park.

"Is this it?" Tori asked, still concealing her identity.

"Uh-huh," was Shaw's only reply.

"Cut the engine and hand me the key."

He turned the ignition, switching it off and shakily handed over the little silver car key. Benny felt it snatched from his fingertips.

Tori said "That's a good boy" before slamming the back of his head with her gun, knocking him out. She slipped out through the side door which was facing away from the building. Tori couldn't risk the premises being monitored somehow.

She knew she had to make her move quickly because the man inside will become aware that his errand boy had not exited the vehicle yet.

This once parking area was conquered by greenery. Tori stayed close to the ground, keeping herself hidden by the overgrown bush. She stopped when she saw a door and an object right above it. Upon second glance, she deduced it was simply a light for nighttime. Tori advanced on her belly like a soldier infiltrating enemy lines. In fact the more she thought about it, it seemed like a fair comparison.

Tori got up swiftly and kept her back to the wall. She utilized her eyes to see if further down the side of the building, either way, there were no cameras that she could see. And so far, no reinforcements were brought out. Tori smirked that she successfully made it to Mr. Hand's lair and she was the usual phantom, nowhere and everywhere.

She tried the door and saw it was unlocked.

Not believing her good fortune, Tori entered into the church. The day was waning so whatever light penetrating through the holes in the walls or windows were only a little helpful. More than half of this old place was engulfed in shadow. She held her breath and tiptoed, determined to not make a sound. These ancient floorboards coupled with these acoustics could easily alert someone to her presence. But Tori was good at being as quiet as a mouse. It was the dark spots that were difficult. Had it been complete darkness, Tori would just use her night vision goggles but they had no place at near sunset.

Tori definitely didn't notice the almost invisible piano wire until she had touched it with her foot. That set off a plastic explosive that knocked her onto her back, her ears ringing from the blast. As she looked up, she saw a rope release a support beam from above and it fell hard on top of her abdomen. She was pinned down, trapped. As she struggled she could hear footsteps getting closer and closer to her.

The feet stopped and a deep laughter followed.

"Well, well, well. Looks like someone touched a string on the spider's web."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Put the finishing touches on this chapter while nursing a sore throat. Got my cup of tea with extra sugar, so bring on the reviews!**

 **Our heroes are now face to face with the big villain. But he is not what he seems.**

* * *

"Where is he?" Jade asked, looking around.

Cat replied, "He said he went to get some coffee." She then checked her phone. "That was about forty-five minutes ago."

Jade smirked.

"The man **_is_ **a genius. Sikowitz knew to make himself scarce."

The brunette swayed to the side, noticing Cat's monitor.

"You find anything?"

"Well, I've been putting a virtual pin wherever someone was reported to be found by the cops. Obviously anyone left injured who came up on their radar was a possible target of Tori's. It's a little sloppy but it appears from this point," Cat showed with her finger on the screen. "This was the first one at least the first reported. Then she made her way downtown with the exception of a couple of detours."

"Right," Jade nodded. "She's not out for blood against them. She wants information."

"This was the most recent," Cat mentioned. "This convenience mart. The owner was grilled about a frequent customer. Told the police that the anonymous woman was working for a bail bondsman to help collect a debt."

Jade shook her head at Tori's ruse.

 _"That's my girl,"_ she thought. _"I'm still gonna kill her."_

"Anything else?"

Cat sighed and sat down.

"No, the trail goes cold from there. Nothing now until someone makes a move."

"Damn," Jade hits the table. "What if the cops find her first? They could be doing what we're doing and might be further along..."

"Hey!"

She looked down at her friend.

"I didn't say we were giving up. So let's keep trying."

* * *

Tori struggled with her restraints but they weren't budging. She would need a knife or enough outside strength to rip apart this plastic. Tori was wrapped to a wooden chair with the kind of thick plastic wrapping that warehouses use for pallets when they ship them. A few revolutions around her was plenty to make a bond that can't be broken from her. Simple, but effective.

Her mask laid in her lap, her identity already had been revealed.

"I'm out of rope," the man explained. "But sometimes you've got to improvise."

It drove her crazy that she could hear him and not see him. Tori was used to being the whisper in the shadows, not the one being menaced

"You're him, aren't you?" Tori asked. "Show yourself!"

"As you wish."

He slowly came into the light, still wearing that ridiculous mask.

"If you're trying to scare me with that stupid thing, it isn't working."

The man chuckled, "I didn't do it for _your_ benefit. I think we share a pension for remaining anonymous. But you're right, since its only the two of us..." He removed his disguise. "...let's not stand on ceremony, as they say."

Tori found nothing remarkable about the man behind the mask. He would just be another face in the crowd. She estimated he was probably late thirties, early forties. Clean shaven, no sign of tattoos from where she sat; the mask seemed almost superfluous. So why wear it?

"I mean, what difference does it make?" he said. "Nobody knows what we look like..."

Thomas didn't know if it was the lighting or what but something in her face made him stop in his tracks.

"That face..." he mused. "I know you, don't I?"

That got Tori's back up. She had never seen this man before in her life; that of which she is certain. Tori didn't have a photographic memory per se but felt she came damn close. Came in handy when roaming the streets as a hired gun.

"Sorry," Tori replied. "Don't have much time for friends. Not these days. You might have mistaken me for someone else."

Thomas just stared at her, keeping how much this was eating away at him all inside. He kept a cool front.

"So, you were the one that was looking for me" he said. "Why?"

Tori didn't answer.

The last thing she wanted to do was implicate Jade in any way. This wasn't her fight.

"What difference does it make?"

He nodded as he fished into his coat pocket.

Tori's heart sank when he pulled out her phone.

Thomas opened it up and immediately went to the recent calls.

"My, my, my," he grinned. "And who is Jade? Well, goodness gracious; that wouldn't be...Jade _West_ by any chance?"

The half-Latina wished with all her heart that she could get free from this damn plastic and choke the life out of this man. Just him saying her name sent Tori into a frenzy.

"Looks like its been hours since you last talked and just look at all these missed calls."

He starred her down and didn't blink.

"Jade...must be worried sick."

"You so much as touch a hair on her head and you're a **_dead man_**."

Thomas refused to give Tori's threat any kind of weight.

"Relax, I don't want to kill you. Nor do I want to harm your special friend. I just thought that...she would like to know where you are."

He started to call Jade's cell and held it to his ear.

* * *

Jade's phone rang across from her computer.

She practically fell out of her chair when she saw Tori's name on the ID.

"It's her!" Jade exclaimed.

"Seriously?" Cat's eyes widened.

The brunette slid the green button to answer.

"Tori?"

Silence.

"Tori? Tori?!"

"Not...quite," came an unexpected male voice.

Jade stood up, almost spilling her coffee.

"Who are you? Why do you have Tori's phone?"

"Because she's right here," he explained. "Oh, Tori...say hi to your friend..."

"WHATEVER HE SAY'S DON'T..."

Jade covered her mouth when she heard Tori's voice for the first time today. She couldn't stand not being able to see how she is; Jade missed her so much and was so scared for her.

"You have to understand why I tied her up," he quipped. "Girl's kind of a free spirit as they call it."

She could feel her blood boiling.

"Listen you little asshole, no matter where you..."

"Jesus!" he interrupted. "You two were made for each other! I was thinking of a small trade."

Jade could feel the start of the worst migraine in her life.

"What?" she growled.

"I'm going to text you the address of our location. You come here...alone...unarmed; no cops. Just you and Project Ghost."

She looked down at the device in question. Ever since she knew of its existence its been nothing but trouble. Jade would happily get rid of it if it meant having her Tori back. But she dreaded the thought of what he might do with such a powerful machine. This diabolical man who has apparently been pulling strings from the beginning would be unstoppable.

"Are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here" Jade answered.

"That's very good," he chuckled. "Now do we have an arrangement?"

"Yes."

"Okay, and remember you come alone. If I see so much as a siren or anything that smells like a fed, deal's off."

Jade was so stressed right now, she felt like she was going to explode.

"Fine."

"Good. You have one hour from the moment I text you."

The line went dead after that.

Jade stared at the phone in her hands. It was everything she had feared. They didn't intercept Tori in time and now she was being toyed with by Mr. Hand.

She turned and saw Cat standing near her, arms folded.

"So what do we do?" she asked.

"Only thing there is to do," Jade replied. "I have to play his game."

Cat looked sternly at her friend. "You can't do that! You can't hand over this..."

"I said I'd play his game," Jade interrupted. "But I didn't saw I wouldn't cheat."

* * *

Tori sat in the chair, not that she had much choice. The man who went by Mr. Hand had retreated elsewhere without a word. She was left alone with her thoughts, which was its own torture.

All she could think about was how worried Jade must be right now. And of course being overly-concerned will impair her judgment. Jade is fiercely intelligent but when she is out through emotional agony... He threatened and she took the bait.

 _"Come on, Jade...don't let him win."_

She would rather die than have Jade get hurt on her account.

After what felt like an eternity stewing in her own anxieties; the man returned.

Mr. Hand, now with his mask back on, was holding some kind of case. It was large and seemed heavy by the way he was lifting it.

"What's that?" Tori asked sternly.

"Oh nothing that matters to you," he coyly replied. "You should consider yourself very lucky."

The half-Latina tilted her head.

"How can you possibly say that?"

"You have people in your life willing to put you first. Just having one...means everything in the world. It's a shame more people don't realize that's what truly matters."

His tone of voice was devoid of that arrogance from earlier. He didn't say anything after that; just stood there looking out one of the many busted windows. The sun had set on the city and this derelict section was plunged into darkness. It very well could have been a church from the Middle Ages.

"Getting dark," he finally mentioned.

Kicking over one of the old pews, it practically was reduced to splinters from hitting the floor. Mr. Hand lit a match and threw it onto the pile of dry, rotten wood. It took care of the light problem and also gave the vicinity some much-needed warmth. Tori was grateful for that at least.

But Tori now had a new thing to worry about because that burning ember will spread to the rest of this church in little time. And she doubted her host will assist in her escaping. First, she wished Jade would stay away and now Tori had to hope she is making haste.

The sound of a car pulling up and the brief flash of headlights alerted the pair inside.

 _"She's here."_

"She's here," he said.

Mr. Hand picked up his case, turned back to Tori and pointed.

"Don't go anywhere."

He opened the door and stepped outside.

Sure enough, there was Jade standing beside her personal car. She was dressed in a long black coat with a messenger bag draped over her shoulder.

"Come closer," he ordered.

"Where is Tori first."

"Inside," he replied. "But we should hurry with this transaction. There's a little fire some reckless human being started."

Jade's face fell as she looked around the man to better see the church. There was an orange glow coming from within; he wasn't bluffing.

"This wasn't part of the deal, you bastard!"

Mr. Hand shrugged his shoulders.

"Forgive me but I needed to stress how much I'm on a time frame here. Now where is the device?"

Jade narrowed her eyes as she wordlessly slammed down the bag and unfurled the flap. Seconds later, she produced the little black box.

"Here," she said as she approached him.

"That's far enough!" he insisted, holding up his hand. He started walking toward her. "Here is what we are going to do..."

"What?"

Mr. Hand pointed to a couple of yards from the door he came from.

"You're going to stand right there. Then I'm going to turn the device on and point it to you. If you really didn't double-cross me, you will be teleported into the church where you can save your precious friend. And when you two emerge, I will be long gone. You will not see or hear from me ever again."

Jade looked back at the building which she was sure was getting engulfed in flames by the second.

"Just do it already," she snarled as she handed the device over and walked to where he indicated.

He fired up the machine and pointed it to Jade who was directly between it and the church walls. In a flash of light, she was completely gone.

After witnessing a successful demonstration, he laughed to himself and quickly made way to Jade's car. He opened the driver's side door and backseat door. He carefully placed the big case and significantly smaller invention in side and shut the door. Then he sat down and touched the steering wheel. What happened next he never would have expected in a thousand years. A dark matter jumped from the dashboard onto his face and torso. The shock sent him tumbling out of the vehicle. Before he knew it, he was becoming engulfed by the nanobots. No amount of rolling on the ground or struggling would make the countless hordes relent.

* * *

Inside the church, Tori was awestruck by the magical manifestation of Jade.

"Holy shit! But how..."

"No time," said the pale woman, a little woozy from that short trip. "We gotta get you out of here."

"Jade, I'm..."

Without letting her finish, Jade's lips struck Tori's.

"We'll discuss this later," she told the tan woman.

"Right," she nodded in agreement.

Jade took from her pockets a knife that unfolded. In seconds, she managed to cut through the plastic and Tori was free.

A collapsing beam fell less than a foot from where the chair sat, startling the hell out of them. Tori looked up and saw that the flames had indeed reached the ceiling. Jade saw them too.

"This whole place is going down!"

Jade didn't allow Tori to heed her instructions on her own and grabbed her wrist tightly and led the way outside the church. Good thing, too because moments after exiting through the door, the entire ceiling had caved in. Having been restricted tightly to a chair, the blood flow in Tori's legs were weak so she quickly faltered to her knees. Jade huddled near her as they coughed up what little smoke was in their lungs.

"Where is he?" Tori asked.

Jade knew who she meant. This wasn't her playing the pronoun game. His true identity remained a mystery and she understood if Tori refused to dignify his alter ego in any way.

"He's taken care of," Jade assured.

But upon looking up, she saw what she expected begin to bulge until the her mechanical cocoon broke in a blaze of black bits.

"Impossible," she said.

When the dust settled, Mr. Hand stood up once more. He then jettisoned tiny bracelets from both wrists, leaving them on the ground. Jade then realized what had happened. Those must have been some kind of charges for small plastic explosives Mr. Hand carried on his person. He quite literally had something up his sleeves. And since he detonated them on the inside, where they were the most vulnerable, the nanobots were banished by the sheer force of the blast.

He soon locked eyes with the woman who tried to deceive him. Mr. Hand's gaze did not break even as he reached down to his ankle for a concealed handgun.

"I tried to be reasonable but you still crossed me! Big mistake."

The shot echoed for a mile but the muffled sound of the impact and Jade's whimper were silent by comparison.

"JADE! NO!" cried Tori, holding the fallen woman.

The gunman looked east when he first heard the sirens. Somebody must have seen the fire and called 911. Now he knew he had to leave. Since the car was still on, he simply closed the door and drove away.

"Jade? JADE! ... oh Jade..."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Have a few more to go before we bring this to a close.**

 **Started brainstorming on my next big story; hope to begin writing it next month.**

 **please review ;-)**

* * *

"Is he gone?"

The voice was so faint Tori swore she had only imagined it.

But a fit of coughing soon followed, daring her to look down.

Much to her shock and delight, Jade's eyes were open and she began to try to get up on her own. Tori wouldn't allow it and aided the dark-haired woman.

"But how did...?"

Jade unbutton her coat and lifted her shirt, revealing a bulletproof vest.

"He must think I'm fucking stupid," she quipped.

Tori held up her hand and showed the bit of blood to Jade.

"I don't know..." she mused as she touched the back of her head. Feeling something wet, Jade brought back her hand and studied it. There was some fresh blood on her fingers. "Oh shit. Must have cut myself on a rock when I fell. Is it bad?"

Tori looked behind Jade and parted her hair to check it out better.

"I think it's okay. Just a cut," she said.

"Can't see any skull?" Jade asked.

"No skull," Tori replied.

"Well, that's disappointing."

Anxiety finally began to subside and a small chuckle escaped Tori's mouth.

"You had me so scared Jade."

She turned around, arms folded, and stared down the half-Latina.

"Now you know how I've felt _all day._ "

"I'm sorry..."

The sirens were now much closer than a moment ago.

Jade took Tori firmly by the hand and started making haste.

"Later," she said.

The pair vanished from the scene as fire engines and squad cars began pulling up to suppress the inferno.

* * *

Nearly an hour later, their taxi stopped in front of Westbound Tower. Jade threw a wad of cash at the cabbie and told him to keep the change and quickly exited along with Tori. The doorman let the women inside without a word.

Jade scanned her ID and entered the lab with Tori in tow.

"Cat!" Jade called out. "We've got a problem."

The redhead was laying her head down beside her computer, snoring lightly.

"Um...Cat?"

She was still not responsive.

Jade smirked and tapped on the table loudly. That made the redhead spring up like a jack in the box.

"What? What?" Cat looked over at the pair and sighed. "Oh, you're back."

"Barely," Jade said. "Let me see this..." She then took the laptop and started booting up a program.

"What's that?" asked Tori.

"This is a trace I have hooked up to my car," Jade explained. "Hopefully he didn't ditch it yet so we can get a location."

"He?" Cat seemed puzzled. "Who's driving your car?"

Tori folded her arms. "Mr. Hand," she replied with a sneer.

Jade explained, "Let's just say phase one of the plan was a success and phase two was a colossal failure."

"Didn't you have the armor?"

"Yeah," she told Cat. "But its destroyed."

" _Destroyed?_ "

"He did damage to it with an explosive and the nanobots scattered. I've tried to summon them back but no luck."

"What do we do now?" Cat insisted.

"I might have an idea," came a male voice.

The trio looked around the lab trying to see the source of the familiar voice. Sikowitz slowly emerged from behind a server.

"It's okay, I'm not mad anymore" Jade told him but then turned to Tori "...not at you anyway."

Tori made an apologetic face.

Cat asked him, "What do you mean?"

Sikowitz approached the group.

"From what I saw on the computer; the armor sustained quite a bit of damage. Apparently, this Mr. Hand fellow found its Achilles Heel. Even if the bots were fixable, finding them would be an impossibly tedious process. A lot of them had their tracking damaged anyway."

A bloop came up on Jade's laptop.

"And speaking of tracking..."

Jade checked the screen and saw her vehicle had stopped fifteen minutes ago on the corner of Garrett and Manchester. She then took out her phone.

"What are you doing?" Tori asked.

"Calling the cops to report my stolen car."

"Good idea," Cat said.

Tori asked Sikowitz, "Now what did you mean you had an idea for something?"

"Let me show you."

* * *

Sikowitz opened a huge door and flicked on the light. There was something concealed by a blue tarp. Something big.

"What the hell is that thing?" Jade asked.

He stepped in front of her and presented with his hands like it was a game show prize.

"I call it the Bird of Prey."

Jade sighed at how corny that sounded. Tomorrow she was going to hire someone from marketing who would be better suited at naming inventions.

"What does it do?" Tori asked, standing a few steps behind Jade.

"Pretty much the same stuff a military-grade helicopter would do, but minus the rotors. That's what makes it so quiet."

"But how does it fly?" Jade queried.

Sikowitz replied, "Basically a much larger version of the thrusters that propelled you. Irony of ironies, the smaller you make these things the noisier they get. See in order for these engines to keep from overheating, you either have to install a sufficient cooling system or give off a lot of exhaust. And since this baby is so big, it has the sweet cooling system. Good for the environment, deadly to your enemies."

He then went into a Dr. Frankenstein-style laugh.

"Okay," Tori said as she approached the vessel. "Have you tested it out?"

"Are you kidding?" said Sikowitz. "When Jade's father went missing, I flew this badboy myself to try to help find him. Flew it from here to Argentina in about four hours."

Jade smiled at the eccentric scientist with glassy eyes. She loved how he just dropped everything and flew this experimental monstrosity to a remote area at the sound of his friend being in trouble. He really was the brother Alex West never had.

Her phone snapped Jade back to reality. She pulled it out and answered, "Yeah?"

"Miss West, this is Officer Daniels. We have just recovered your car. It appears to be okay but we didn't find anyone inside it."

 _"Damn it,"_ she thought.

"Alright. Thanks."

Jade hung up and looked at Tori.

"Well that's a dead end. Now how are we gonna find this asshole?"

"This is all my fault," Tori said, shaking her head.

The dark-haired woman ran her fingers through her head and sighed before pulling Tori in for a comforting hug.

"I think the last few days have taught us that going into things alone is a recipe for disaster. But if we work together, me might be able to stop him."

Cat then entered the room.

"If he's a bank robber by trade, that should narrow things down, right?"

Sikowitz told the redhead "Not necessarily. He had no issues with penetrating banks in the past. Why would he need a teleporter now?"

"Because where he wants to go is more impossible to break into than a bank," Tori pondered.

"What's worse than a bank?" Jade queried.

Tori smirked and replied, "I think I know where we can find out."

"What's that?" asked Cat.

"Mr. Hand may know his banks. But I know another place that likes to think its built like a fortress. A place I've been before. A place where we can get information."

* * *

Josh Franklin was putting books away in the prison library before lights out, as was his daily duty. Having violated the terms of his parole, Franklin was locked up again. He had no choice but to play the role of model prisoner.

A guard stood outside the door while he worked.

Franklin was in the midst of shelving the graphic novels, a favorite among the inmates despite them being primarily about superheroes triumphing over criminals. Just when he put a 1980's era Frank Miller book away did Franklin get knocked off his feet and slammed onto a big wooden table where inmates read. One masked person was holding him down while a more familiar "face" held a hand over his mouth and brandishing a knife near his eyeball.

"Hello, Joshua" said Tori in her creeper tone. "Funny surprise finding you here. Haven't been a good boy I see."

All he was able to let out was a faint moan.

"Now I told you to tell me everything you knew about Mr. Hand and you swore you did."

Franklin sounded like he said something to the effect of 'I did.'

"Then how did this motherfucker almost kill me? Does that sound like what would happen to someone who had everything she needed to know? _Does it_?"

He laid there, his eyes darting back and forth. Either he was hiding something or was wishing someone would intervene. Or both.

"I still have this annoying piece of the puzzle. Where's the money? Why isn't Mr. Hand enjoying the Cayman Islands with all those millions?"

Franklin gave a muffled reply and Tori cautiously removed her hand.

"What was that?"

"He burns it," the scared boy replied in a loud whisper.

"The hell do you mean? How does one guy go through that much bread?"

He shook his head profusely. "No, no, no. I mean he burns it. Puts it all together and just...poof...sets it on fire."

Tori took a second to look up at Jade.

"Why the fuck would he do that?"

"I...don't...know. I never seen anyone like him. He steals a small fortune but he hates money. He's crazy...crazier than you."

Tori covered his mouth once more.

"For once, Joshua, we agree." She then turned the knife and pressed it wide-ways onto his face, so he could feel the cold steel. "See my friend there?"

Only able to move his eyes, he could barely make out a second shadowy figure above him.

"You thought I was alone. Well I'm not. There's more of us out there than you think, so if I were you I'd keep my nose clean. Because one day you will look behind you and then," Tori picked up the knife and titled it so he could see the blade again. "...your number's up."

"Do we understand?" asked Jade with a voice modulator which made her sound male.

"Y-y-yeah."

"Good," replied Tori.

Franklin closed his eyes in fear and was startled by the sound of the guard.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? SLEEP IN YOUR CELL, FRANKLIN!"

Josh looked around and saw no sign of the intruders. They came and went like phantoms.

He doubted he would sleep well tonight. Or ever again.

* * *

Jade and Tori flew away in the soon-to-be-renamed Bird of Prey.

With stealth mode activated, the vehicle provided a swift and silent getaway. Jade was genuinely impressed at how Tori didn't trigger any of the alarms.

"Just full of surprises," Jade remarked.

"I can say the same about you," Tori winked. "So this guy became more of a puzzle."

Jade put on her headset and tuned in to the police surveillance she implanted the other day. It was still transmitting and wouldn't you know it, Jade's car is an object of interest at the moment. They needed to pull evidence from it before releasing it back to its rightful owner.

"Let's see what the boys in blue have uncovered," Jade said.

It was several officers going back and forth, at least one of them being on the phone.

 _"...omas...that's right, Terry Thomas. His prints on file from Culver County Corrections matches the ones we found in the West car..."_

 _"please tell me you have something putting this car at that church that burned down...no...no, it wasn't arson..."_

 _"...wait, you fou...really?...more...?"_

 _"Okay, get this...tire tracks from the scene match Jade West's car...and no bomb parts in the car, right?..."_

 _"...so, just the components that were in the church basement..."._

 _"I can't believe Jade West is Mr. Hand..."_

 _"...oh Jesus Christ..."_

 _"...idiot..."_

 _"...no, genius...Terry Thomas is Mr. Hand. It all fits. He was released after serving for that inside job..."_

 _JBVJKDJKDVKJVJFVFFFGFJFFVFFFFF_

"Ah, shit!"

"What's wrong?" asked Tori, keeping her eyes on flying.

Sikowitz walked the pair through piloting the Bird of Prey and the one who took to it quicker was Tori. Flying apparently was one big difference between father and daughter.

"The signal got scrambled," replied Jade, throwing her headphones off. "But we have a lead. Supposedly our guy's real name is Terry Thomas."

"Does he have a record?" asked Tori.

"Uh-huh. And guess what for?"

Tori grinned and briefly glanced at her girl.

* * *

Meanwhile, miles away from the heart of Kinopolis...

Sikowitz waited in the bushes until the last of the emergency crew left the scene of the burned down church. Finally alone, he came out and got to work.

"Alright," he said out loud whilst putting on the armor spectacles. "Come to papa."

He stood as still as possible but nothing happened.

"Rats," he frowned.

Sikowitz then pocketed the glasses and turned on his headlight visor and got onto his knees.

"Plan B," the scientist sighed as he began sifting through the dirt.

* * *

Tori and Jade returned and saw Cat sleeping at the computer table again.

This time they collectively shook their heads and let her be. Poor thing must have been exhausted.

"What's this..." Jade remarked as she picked up a yellow post-it left by Sikowitz. Her yawning while reading the note didn't go unnoticed by Tori.

"Maybe Red has the right idea," whispered the half-Latina.

Jade fought through a powerful yawn to reply.

"I'm...oh...not tired."

The pale woman sighed and started walking toward the elevator. She looked back to Tori.

"You coming?"

* * *

Jade turned on the light to the living room and threw her keys onto the glass table.

Tori sat down on the couch, which made Jade stop short of her walk to the bedroom.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Tori looked surprised "What do you mean?"

"Now don't pretend that you don't know where the bedroom is," Jade smirked.

The tan one bit her lip, embarrassed.

"I meant that as a joke."

"You're sure?"

Jade rolled her eyes.

"Tori, we're both adults. Besides, its been a stressful week for me. I need someone to snuggle with when I sleep. So get your ass to bed," she pointed to the opened door.

"Yes, ma'am," Tori replied as she happily stood and followed her.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: So much has happened since the morning I posted the last chapter. You'll notice I don't put guns in my stories too often and when I do, its normally in the hands of someone bad. I like to think the good guys find other ways to help people. I don't get political in these author notes but I think we can all agree that its been long overdue to get some gun control. School shootings are getting closer together and I'm worried. Those of us that are old enough to vote, lets get rid of these congressmen and governors who don't push for kids to be safe.**

 **Thank you.**

* * *

Terry Thomas looked down at his target from the vantage of his room at the Bayberry Hotel across the street. He had studied it for the last twelve hours and his research confirmed his own observations. Thomas determined that a changing of the guards occurs every eight hours. So he knew midnight tonight was when he would strike; there being as few people as possible. He wasn't sure if he could get the employees out in time but he would try. Either way, Thomas swore that nothing would stand in his way now.

He cautiously opened the big case to examine the bomb. It wasn't damaged during transport and can still be detonated.

"Good, good."

* * *

Jade rolled over and immediately opened her eyes when she felt something that wasn't the bed.

"I can get used to that sight," Tori grinned.

"You're quite fetching in the morning yourself," Jade said. "How did you sleep?"

"Being here next to you was the fucking best I've slept in ages." Tori's hand hungrily snatched Jade's. "It was just so calm here."

Jade squeezed her hand back.

"Well, I'm glad you talked me into this. Now I feel much better."

"Let's go catch some bad guys," the half-Latina said as she got up.

Jade sat up and held up one finger.

"Rule Number One: never, ever say that again while wearing only a shirt and panties."

"Why?" Tori chuckled.

"Because it's so goddamn sexy I might not be able to help myself."

Tori walked backward slowly, holding a 'come hither' smirk until she backed into the opened bathroom door. She took one gaze inside and looked back to Jade.

"You know, it would take less time if we showered together. And yours looks more than big enough."

That was all that was needed for the white sheet to hit the floor.

* * *

Cat lifted her head and yawned. She noticed her jacket was draped over her shoulders like a makeshift blanket.

She looked at her screen and the Westbound Enterprises logo was bouncing around while the screensaver played.

Once her phone alerted her the time of day, she let out another lion-sized yawn before getting up from her chair. The redhead lumbered over to the warm glow of the soda machine and got herself a Sprite. She struggled with the cap for a moment and finally heard the hiss. Cat savored that first carbonated sip. She didn't drink much soda but there were times when she would just crave a Sprite. The way it tickled from her mouth all the way down was better than any glass of champagne in her opinion.

Cat leaned against the softly humming vending machine.

"Where is everybody?"

* * *

Tori's back quickly felt the cold of the wall as Jade pushed against her. But she didn't care because the rain pelting her and her very eager companion was more warmth than she could have asked for. Tori pushed Jade forward a little so she could sink to her knees. Now she was face to face with Jade's stomach. Tori licked it with relish as she fondled the dark-haired woman's firm behind.

Jade's only retort was very agreeable moans.

Tan hands rested on Jade's hips as Tori began standing back up again. She 'accidentally' bumped into Jade's perfectly round boobs on the way.

"You're a goddess," Tori whispered to her.

Jade couldn't help but notice the markings here and there on Tori; likely from pain she had endured from being the punching bag in prison. But she did her best not to draw any attention to it.

"And you..." Jade said with a kiss. "...are my invincible warrior."

She didn't expect Tori to whisk her around until their bodies were pressed together, Jade being held tightly with Tori's rather muscular arm. Suddenly her downstairs felt a visitor and it was making itself at home.

 _"So that's where your other hand went, you saucy minx."_

Her touch was gentle but her movements had purpose.

There was nothing on this earth like Tori's hands as Jade found out. She worked with precision and knew how to make her target scream.

"Just let yourself go," Tori said into her ear. "Let the waves come. I'll make sure you don't fall."

As strong as a grasp she had on her, Jade believed it.

* * *

A little bit later, the pair emerged from the shower in over-sized towels.

"That was..."

"...something else," Jade finished.

"You mind if I borrow something. Didn't bring any other clothes."

Jade pointed to the closet.

The half-Latina vanished from her sight and after a few second shouted, "This thing is huge!"

Jade laughed. That reaction never gets old.

"You may have to use a halter top for a bra!" Jade shouted back.

"Ah!" said Tori in mocked offense. "How _dare_ you not have a brassiere in my size!"

"Sorry I didn't hold onto anything from the _seventh grade_!"

"Oh, har-de-har-har!"

Jade shook her head as she threw down her towel and put on one of her "ready to wear" combos on. Despite having a sizable closet, Jade only really preferred about ten outfits so she would have a neat little pile with tops and pants folded together. Four were for business and the rest were casual. That way she can just grab something comfortable but presentable if she was in a hurry.

"Just hurry up and get dressed, Tori! Cat's probably getting up soon..."

The phone on the bed rung, showing the caller as Cat.

"Never mind!"

* * *

The pair entered the lab where Cat was sitting with her feet up, waiting.

"About time you guys showed up."

Jade coyly replied, "Sorry we were..."

"...detained," Tori tried.

As the half-Latina walked past the smaller woman, she leaned in to gently grab Jade's wrist.

"Did you two...?"

Jade put a finger to her lips to make the redhead shut down the subject.

"Later," she whispered.

The brunette quickly looked around and noticed the absentee.

"Where's Sikowitz?"

"HERE!"

The loud announcement was punctuated by an even louder thud. The three woman turned and saw the the source of both. There stood the scientist proudly holding a large satchel.

"What's in there?" Tori asked.

He just smiled and emptied the contents onto the metal table, causing a cacophonous sound.

" _These_ are what's left of the armor," Sikowitz replied. "Well, all I could find. I'm actually surprised I located this much."

"So there's still some out there?" Cat asked.

"Not to worry," he said. "The threat is more or less neutralized now. The amount of injured nanobots still out there don't pose a threat. Just very, very expensive litter."

Jade walked up with a magnifying glass and held up a piece between her thumb and forefinger.

"They haven't broken into pieces themselves," she observed from the damaged miniature machine. "Can they be repaired? Will they be able to assemble like before?"

Sikowitz crossed his arms.

"Hard to say. One thing is certain, it will take some time."

"What do we do with Thomas?" Tori asked.

They all looked at each other.

"If we're gonna stop him, we need more than a snazzy vehicle," Jade suggested.

"Okay, who's Thomas?" queried Sikowitz.

Cat added, "With Project Ghost in his possession, he's going to be even harder to take down."

"Who's Thomas?"

The redhead continued.

"I actually have been skimming through the digital archives to see what we have in this very lab and came across some interesting things."

Jade looked at her quizzically. "How did you get into the archives? They're password-protected."

"You're adorable," Cat sneered while cracking her fingers.

"Who's Thomas?"

Tori looked at Cat's screen and pointed to one image.

"What's this thing?"

"I like that one, too" the petite one whispered.

"What?" asked Jade. "Let me see!" She gazed at the monitor while Cat expanded the file to show more detail. "Oh wow."

"THIS has been sitting in this old lab all this time?" Tori said, impressed.

 _"Who's Thomas?"_

"Come on," Cat said taking the laptop along. "Let's go find it. I hope it works."

Soon, the trio have vanished, leaving a bemused Sikowitz.

"WHO'S THOMAS?"

* * *

The Kinopolis Police Department all convened inside what has been called "The Boiler Room." This was were the chief or commissioner would rally the troops to get everyone up to speed on a very important case. For every man and woman in this room, regardless of what they have on their plate, what they are being briefed on is priority number one.

They wisely knew to stay standing if was indeed the commissioner this time. But the door opened and the chief entered.

"Please be seated," Chief Heffron ordered. "Some of you may be aware of the fire that occurred in old town last night at the now decimated Holy Mother Church."

Some murmured and some nodded their heads silently.

"The blaze was indeed intentionally set but not from your run of the mill arsonist." Heffron sighed before dropping the proverbial bomb. "Mr. Hand...he's back."

The more uproarious response from the crowd made it apparent this was something they didn't know.

Heffron slammed his hand down, which was carried generously by the acoustics. This caused everyone to be quiet.

"There's more. It would seem that we have a positive ID on the man behind the mask. Terry Thomas, 39, 5'10, average build, Caucasian." The Chief showed the mugshot on the overhead projector. "As you can tell very unassuming in appearance but his rap sheet says otherwise."

The next "slide" was an image of the Twenty-First Century Bank several blocks away from the precinct.

"Thomas was originally employed by Twenty-First Century as a security guard. Unfortunately, his weakness got the better of him and he tried to make way with over $100,000 in large bills. Seeing as electronic transactions are the norm for the kind of businesses this bank deals with, his theft would have probably gone for weeks undetected. But the security guard was not privy to a webcam accidentally left on in one of the offices. It clearly shows Thomas leaving from the vault with a big bag. Upon seeing the footage the following morning, authorities were called to Thomas' home and indeed all of the cash was found there."

They then saw the image of the opened bag with stack of bills haphazardly stuffed within. Next to the picture was another picture, this one showing the seven-point match of fingerprints found on the bag and the money.

"He was sentenced to five years for grand larceny due to the massive sum of money stolen," Chief Heffron explained. "He had a family but they since moved away during his incarceration. We don't have much more information regarding them."

The chief then showed the big hole in Twenty-First Century left by an explosive.

"We now see how upon Thomas' release...two things occurred. One, he vanished and two, Mr. Hand first struck."

"Wasn't there also a murder, chief?" one of the seasoned officers offered.

He gravely nodded. "Apart from the millions stolen, the bank manager Terrence Wilkins was found dead of asphyxiation in the vault. At least it appeared that way. Autopsy showed it was the result of carbon monoxide poisoning."

Another image showed bit of some kind of machine.

"This bunch of debris we recovered from the vault is clearly parts from a type of chemical bomb. During his downtime, Terry Thomas has become rather proficient in explosives of varying kinds. Obviously this makes him extremely dangerous."

"What about West?"

"Yeah what about West?"

Heffron held up his hand to calm down the questioning.

"We have talked with Jade West, CEO of Westbound Enterprises extensively and nothing matching Thomas has come up before. Now the body of a recently terminated executive by the name of Leopold Kermer was found this week. On him was a cellphone whose call history shows an unlisted number to a prepaid device. What made him interesting was this same number was found to have been called by several low-level crooks we have apprehended in the last 48 hours. It would seem Thomas was after something in Westbound Enterprises or sought to blackmail them and Kermer was his way in."

The chief also added, "And given the contracts Westbound has had with the military in the past, I wouldn't be shocked if they were in possession of a weapon that peaked Thomas' interest. He's back and he's plotting something very big. So let's be on alert and report ANYTHING out of the ordinary. I expect to see every last one of you in this room by the time this is all over. Please be careful out there. _DISMISSED_!"

* * *

"How does it look?"

Cat and Tori walked around Jade, examining the newly-found suit.

"I have no complaints," the half-Latina winked.

Jade rolled her eyes, confident that her new attire was very form fitting. But this wasn't just a simple catsuit. The idea is to get a master criminal to submit, not her girlfriend.

This new armor, dubbed SmartSkin, was originally created to keep the body temperatures regulated when in harsh conditions like outer space. But when it got rejected, Alex West sort of kept it in the closet but he periodically made adjustments to it. He was trying to see what this thing could do. One of the cool things was it quickly adjusted to the size of the wearer. Another upgrade was areas of the suit could become rigid like the arms and shoulders to make the wearer super strong.

It was clear to Jade that the inspiration for the nanobots didn't just fall out of the sky. This SmartSkin was the precursor to that idea.

"Definitely feels less confining than the old suit," Jade remarked. "Tori, punch me."

"Huh?"

"Just throw a punch."

"You're sure?"

Jade growled "Just get on with it!"

Tori muttered something under her breath when she threw a left hook and Jade's hand stopped it dead.

"Cool," Cat said.

Jade smirked as she squeezed her hands, making Tori squirm a little.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, hey!"

The brunette let the tan woman go and she held her hurt hand.

"Pretty strong," Tori remarked.

"And now you two."

Cat looked at her funny. "Excuse me?"

"A very wise person once said someone shouldn't handle everything alone."

Tori and Cat exchanged glances.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Sorry this is late but the Nor'easter we got here really killed the Internet and power for us. Lost a big chunk of the story but had this sitting in my notes so I put them together to give you something for an update.**

 **The next chapter, expect plenty of action!**

 **Please leave reviews ;-)**

* * *

"What can we do?"

Jade ignored Cat's question as she grabbed the keys she was looking for and threw them to Tori. The tan woman caught them without fail and looked at them confused.

"Backup," Jade simply stated. "I'm going after Terry Thomas and you're going to watch my back." She looked to Tori. "You can pilot that plane better than any of us; I've seen you. You'll be my eye in the sky."

Tori nodded.

"There's also weapons on that bad boy. If anyone is going to shoot something, I need a gal who isn't gonna miss."

The half-Latina smirked at the compliment.

"I think I have the right fit for you, Cat."

Jade walked over to a bulky white sheet and pulled it back to reveal a motorcycle inspired by _Blade Runner_.

"While I was looking for Tori, I was thinking about how to retrieve her and I was secretly eyeing this baby."

Cat looked concerned.

"But Jade, I don't know how to ride a-"

"You don't have to," the brunette cut her off. "It's structure makes it naturally well-balanced. All it requires from its driver is quick wit and nerves of steel. And you've got both."

The redhead still gazed at the black and chrome cycle.

"I don't know Jade..."

"Hey," said the taller woman as she put her hands on the shorter one's arms. "You can do this. You're tougher than you give yourself credit for. There's precious few that I would trust with something this important. My dad put all his faith in me to keep his invention safe and I failed. I need to fix this but I can't do it without you. You're my best friend."

Cat took the deepest of breaths and released it.

"Bitch, don't front. I'm your _only_ friend."

The two smiled as they touched foreheads. Stronger than friends or sisters could ever be.

"Anything I can do?"

They turned to see Sikowitz standing there.

"Yes, you can monitor the police frequencies and other emergency personnel. If we're gonna have company, I'll need to know. And anything else you can think of that will help. Plus we will stay in constant communication."

Jade stood back and regarded the three people closest to her.

"No screw ups this time," she said. "I am going into this thing with everything I got. And you three will be my eyes and ears all over this damn town. Nothing is going to sneak up on us. Right?"

"Right," the trio replied in unison.

Jade nodded. "Now let's take down Terrence."

* * *

Night fell over Kinopolis and at this late hour, most of the denizens have retired. The glistening city had a nightlife but by midnight it was dead unless it was the weekend.

Terry Thomas was dressed for the night's activities, seemingly ordinary and harmless-looking from afar but armed to the teeth. He locked sights with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kinopolis and readied his little mechanical marvel. He had learned from the previous time to keep his eyes shut during the transportation as his surroundings became absolutely blinding before dropping him to his destination.

Holding on tightly to his briefcase, he vanished. Only a lumbering wino witnessed the man's uncanny disappearance. Looking at his nearly finished bottle of Ol' Man Whiskey, he just shrugged it off and walked on.

Thomas materialized on the other side of the thick walls of the reserve. He looked around with the anticipation of a child - he had never dreamed that he would be inside this building. Hearing the approaching guards, Thomas quickly went to work. He hid behind the first corner he saw, waiting for them to pass. A few precious seconds later, Thomas surprised the pair with matching electric shockers that rendered them unconscious. He then dragged them into the janitor's closet and barricaded the door since he didn't have the means to lock it.

* * *

The Black Swan (working new name for the previously-called Bird of Prey) loomed over the slumbering city. It was as silent as a bird 1/100 its size.

Tori sat and looked at the display carefully. The panorama of the city skyline had a graphical overlay that laid out all kinds of information to her, including heat signatures produced by other flying vehicles or high explosives. A chirping sound came over her headset and Tori tapped it to open her mic.

"Yeah."

"How you doing?"

She was beginning to adore the sound of Jade's voice, regardless of context.

"It's fine. So far, nothing unusual yet."

"Same here," chimed in Cat. "This thing is crazy fast."

Jade told her, "Relax, red. You're arms and legs are locked in and the bike will never tip. You won't fall."

"Hey, Jade...ever see that cartoon the Powerpuff Girls?" asked Tori.

"Yeah, so?"

Tori laughed little.

"It's kind of us right now, don't you think?" she added. "You could be Blossom..."

A loud clang and crash was heard just outside the cockpit. Tori knew the origin of the commotion and sat in gleeful anticipation until the door flung open and an irate Jade West emerged and sat beside her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...hold on a sec... _the hell_ _I'm Blossom!_ "

Cat snickered at the protest from Jade.

"Why am I Blossom, _Vega_?"

"Because...you're the leader of this little outfit, aren't you?"

Jade shot back, "Absolutely not! If anything I'm Buttercup and Cat is Blossom. She's the redhead!"

"OH BULLSHIT!" blasted Tori. "I. Am. Not. Bubbles!"

"Well why not?" asked Jade. "You were all kinds of soft and sweet this morning...in the shower..."

Cat made an exaggerated "eww" noise.

"T.M.I.!"

"I hate you Jade," grumbled Tori.

"Oh, relax you. Cat has to learn about sex sometime."

"Shut up!"

A beep came through, signaling that another caller was infiltrating the conversation.

"Sikowitz here!"

"What's up, Coconuts?"

"I think I've got a away we can track Thomas. The energy created by Project Ghost is very unique. I believe I have found the means of detecting it. I'm downloading it into both of your software. With any luck, we might catch a hit."

"You guys really think he'll strike tonight?" asked Cat.

"I think so," Tori sighed. "Our presence kind of put a snag in his plans. With that technology in his hands, he'll have no choice but to act quickly. I'll be surprised if he bides his time any longer."

Jade typed on a keyboard nearby Tori.

"Okay," said the dark-haired woman. "The scanner is online. Hopefully the next time he uses that machine, we'll know."

* * *

He traversed the corridors with caution, keeping alert for anything that might trigger an alarm. If his presence was made known and the doors were opened to the authorities, his plan would be ruined. Thomas saw a dead end and deduced that the vault itself must be on the other side since this wouldn't lead into any room. The corridor ended at this point, yards away from the last set of doors. The gold MUST be behind this wall. Thomas aimed the machine and traveled through the solid wall.

In moments, he was in awe of a magnificent sight.

Hundreds and hundreds of gold bars stacked neatly all around the room. The low key lighting was all that was needed to give the piles of bullion a sheen. While he detested was these metal bricks represented, Thomas had to admit to himself that they did look beautiful in a way.

* * *

 _ **BEEP. BEEP. BEEEEEEP.**_

 _ **BEEP. BEEP. BEEEEEEP.**_

"Holy shit!" exclaimed Cat, caught off guard by the blaring noise. "Hey, guys! I got a hit!"

"Are you shitting me?" asked Jade over the headset.

"About a block from here. Heading down there now. I'll give you guys more when I get closer."

"Roger that," replied Tori.

They looked at one another, their hearts pounding at the sign that all the craziness was about to begin. The awkward silence must have lasted for several minutes because the Cat came back.

"Guys, you there?"

"We're here!" Jade shakily answered. "What is your location?"

"The federal reserve; I'm right in front of it."

"You're sure?" Tori asked.

The redhead replied, "Oh yeah. This is definitely the point of origin according to my computer."

Tori gripped the controls tightly.

"Stay there. We're coming!"

* * *

Thomas unfurled his map of the city's piping system and traveled the room while looking upward. After careful study, he figured that there was a service pipe that led from the reservoir that went over the reserve. Or rather, through the reserve - just above the main ceiling and below the roof. The extensive subway system goes back over 100 years and in its infancy, it was not built well. Many older tunnels had collapsed or been rendered inoperable through fear of collapse. This meant any excavation in the city limits were strictly limited to avoid sinkholes. A solution to the growing need of fire hydrants was to make the transportation of water above-ground. It was more of an eyesore on older buildings, which were less accommodating to these massive pipes, bringing to mind the dreadful duct-work of the 1930's.

Ascending one of the pyramids of gold, Thomas got close enough to the ceiling to plant his first, smaller explosive. He stuck it and set it for a 10 second detonation. Sure enough the relatively small boom sounded and there was a big dark hole in the room above Thomas' head. This building may have been constructed like a fortress, but that pipe needed to be accessible to Public Works. Thomas titled his head saw a bit of the service pipe. He smiled as he found his target.

Opening the briefcase, Thomas looked longingly at a canister sitting in the protective form-fitting foam. He shook his head and took out the bomb itself and climbed back up the gold tower with it. He was able to get close enough to crawl inside the blasted ceiling and shimmy toward the water pipe. Thomas attached the bomb onto the metal pipe and jumped back down to get far enough before the explosion happened.

"DON'T MOVE!"

* * *

"That motherfucker!" seethed Jade. "That's what he needed it for."

"I don't follow," Tori shook her head.

"My dad told me about this reserve. They said the walls are like three feet thick solid cement. Able to withstand nuclear fallout."

Tori nodded, "Too much for even the most experienced safe cracker."

"Exactly."

"And just how are we going to get in there?"

Jade replied, "Leave that to me."

* * *

Thomas froze, mostly by surprise.

"You must be new," he commented. "Thought I got all of the guards on duty."

"PUT YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD AND TURN AROUND SLOWLY!" the man ordered.

Thomas complied and his eyes met with the security guard, looking about 50 years old.

"Let me guess..." Thomas mused. "Must have been in the can, came back and saw me on camera and came to stop me."

"Where are the others?" the guard demanded.

"They're safe," he replied. "If you'd like, I can have you join them."

The man shook his head.

"I don't think so. You're in big trouble."

"You sure that its me who is in trouble?"

With a hard tap of his right heel, a very small gun hidden in his shoe fired upon the guard, disarming him. Thomas swiftly ran up, retrieved the gun and held it at the man. He was groaning in pain from the bullet wound in his thigh. Noticing something shiny on the injured man's belt, Thomas seized it.

"Handcuffs? Guns? I must say for a security guard I'm impressed. Thought they only gave you guys flashlights."

"We're not mall cops; most of us are former federal agents."

Thomas looked around, remembering where he was.

"Makes sense."

He then took the man's cuffs and tied him to a nearby pillar.

"I don't know how you got in here, pal - but you're walking headlong into a world of pain."

Thomas laughed hysterically.

"A world of pain? hhhmm...I like that. You know what else I like? Things that go BOOM!"

The push of a button set off the explosive above them and now water started cascading into the room. The security guard looked in horror as the rushing water began filling up the room. Within seconds, it was up to his feet.

Thomas snickered. "You gentlemen made this vault well, as I had hoped. Its practically water-tight. In a matter of minutes this whole cache of gold will be completely submerged."

"So what?" the guard grimaced. "Gold can survive a little moisture. Ever heard of a sunken treasure?"

"I like you," Thomas pointed. "Even when completely helpless you're still tough as nails. I am aware of gold's stubbornness."

He then fished out a big clear canister that contained a yellow-orange liquid.

"But that water will no long be harmless when I add **_this_**."

"What is that?" the man asked.

"This, my good friend, is a volatile mixture that will turn this seawater into a highly corrosive acid. An acid that will destroy most metals, including...you guessed it..."

The older man looked at the psychotic mastermind before him.

"But you'll kill both of us!"

"Not me," Thomas smiled as he pointed to the Project Ghost in his pocket. "I have my way out. Where's yours?"


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: The time is for ACTION. And a wee bit of backstory.**

 **Probably one more or two tops after this chapter.**

 **ENJOY while we dig ourselves out from yet ANOTHER snowstorm.**

* * *

Jade is absolutely glued to her laptop, typing and clicking away.

"What are you doing?" Tori asked.

"There's no breaking into the reserve. It's impossible. So we're gonna have to be let in."

Tori's eyes widened as Jade gave a peek on her monitor. It indicated that the door locks were being deactivated.

"You can _do_ that?"

Jade raised an eyebrow.

"You kidding? Where do you think CIA gets their software? Google?" She typed one last command and smiled. "Done. She's ours. Now how much closer?"

Tori looked over and replied, "Wave to Cat."

* * *

The trapped security guard, whose name tag read Ray, stood up as the water level rose. It wouldn't be long until it got hard to breathe in here.

"You're insane!"

Terry Thomas looked angry at the assertion.

"Insane? _Insane?_ **I'll TELL you what is truly insane!** Having a man locked up for five years just because he needed help and didn't know where else to turn. You have children...Ray?"

"Two. Both out of high school."

Thomas nodded, "Kids are something, aren't they? And wouldn't you do anything for your kids?"

"Wouldn't any father?" he replied.

"Damn right, Raymond." Thomas just looked longingly at his canister filled with acid but hesitated. He needed to get this off his chest; might as well be to a dying man. "Let's say that your daughter, your only little girl, was diagnosed with a rare condition but there was a new procedure that could cure her. Would you do it?"

The guard did not answer.

"But what if...the surgery was deemed too risky and experimental by your provider and they don't want to cover it? Fine, but out of pocket it cost $80,000. Now I don't know about you Ray but most people aren't sitting on that kind of bread."

Then Ray saw something unexpected from his rather sadistic captor. He starts to look glassy-eyed.

"It's ungodly expensive but what are you supposed to do? Your eight-year-old is given a death sentence and she is looking up at you, scared that for once daddy can't fix it. So he goes to his boss and pleads...begs like an animal...for an advance. And what does he say? It wasn't his problem." Thomas then chuckled. "If that wasn't going to be his problem, then how he looked to _his_ boss wasn't going to be mine."

"You stole from him?" Ray concluded.

"Oh yes. He wasn't hurting for money; the very opposite. And I had every intent on returning it...somehow. But I was sloppy back then. I got caught. Thrown into prison for years. And you know what I found out after doing my time?"

Ray just gazed up at him, waiting for him to finish.

"Not only had my princess died in the hospital..." Thomas sniffed but refused to allow any tears. "But my wife and son moved away to start over. So while I had everything taken away from me, my boss...my old employer...was walking around free. A man who I witnessed laundering to violent mobsters. A man who pocketed a little here and there for gambling. Believe me, my anger at both him and the hypocrisy was enough for me to end him. I also came to realization that he was but a symptom of a larger disease. Greed."

The poor guard raised up his chin as the level became too high. He knew that death was moments away. But Thomas needed to make sure not a single bar survived so it had to be so deep. And he would unleash his wrath once he concluded his oral manifesto to his less than willing listener.

"Greed is crippling every human civilization on the planet and this city is no exception. I don't know how it will all end but I know that change begins...right here."

The massive doors swung open, causing hundreds of gallons of water to begin flowing madly. The level inside the vault was dwindling fast.

 **"No. NO!"**

An unseen assailant flung a gold bar at Thomas. The 20-pound hunk of metal slammed into his hand with such force that he dropped Project Ghost and fell from his plateau of bullion. He became swept away by the torrent of water now exiting the reserve.

* * *

Upon seeing the unfathomable amount of water flowing into the street, Tori quickly landed the plane. She opened the observation hatch and climbed onto the left wing. Tori reached out with her hand when she caught sight of the first guard.

"Take my hand!"

The balding man didn't question it. All he knew there was someone to help him and something stable to hold onto while she assisted others.

"Got you!"

After a minute, Tori had a couple of people clinging to the Black Swan's wing. They held on until the water level went down enough for it to be safe. One such guard held Tori's hand for a moment and sincerely thanked her.

"I don't who the hell you are or where you came from but thanks."

The half-Latina looked back at him. She wasn't exactly in disguise but her hair obscured her face from all the excitement.

"You're welcome."

Police sirens could be heard approaching but they were still far away enough for now. Tori opened the plane back up and got inside. Jade and Cat ran up.

"You two okay?" asked Tori.

"I'm a good swimmer," quipped Cat. "But my bike's a little water-logged."

Tori shook her head. "Did not see this coming. Where's Thomas?"

Jade began climbing up into the Black Swan with Cat close behind her.

"Nailed him with a brick and he lost his senses." She then grinned and threw the little black box onto the dashboard. "And this."

"Where did he go?" Tori asked.

Cat shrugged.

"It's chaos out there," Jade added. "He probably gave us the slip. But that's okay because we have the device and nothing better to do than to hunt his ass down."

"God you're hot!"

"Please don't make me puke _before_ we take off," Cat groaned.

The Black Swan rose from the ground, dripping off water in its wake like a rain cloud. The men on the street regarded the silent stalker of the skies with awe before it vanished from view.

* * *

"What if he's still there?"

Cat made a good point but Tori made a better one.

"If he is, the cops will get him. But if he had half a brain, he would get as far away from the scene of the crime as possible."

Jade sat beside Tori.

"He knows the heat's on."

* * *

 _"Goddamn it!"_

Terry Thomas ran into the night once he got his bearings after being cast into the running water. He noticed right away that he had lost the device. His acid, on the other hand, was still remarkably in his possession. The canister proved easier to keep a grip on than the small but bulky Project Ghost.

And now he had to make tracks without the mechanical marvel.

 _"Fuck it."_

He picked up a metal trash can, dumping all of its contents int he process, and used it to smash the driver side window of a parked blue car. Thomas unlocked it and opened the door. He then brushed what glass fell onto the seat and quickly got in. Getting into the cars was always the hard part to him. Hot-wiring came more naturally. Within minutes, the average-looking sedan roared to life and Thomas sped away.

* * *

The Black Swan was merely patrolling at this point. The girls didn't exactly have any leads to go on.

"Where did you go, bastard?"

Jade just looked silently up at Tori, knowing she wasn't asking anyone in particular.

Cat gazed to her left and saw a car briefly speeding through an intersection.

"Whoa, he's going fast."

"Where did the car go?" Jade asked.

The redhead indicated the direction.

"Tori?"

"On it," replied the half-Latina as she gripped the controls.

"At this time of night in this part of town, somebody's in a hurry," said Jade. "Sounds suspicious to me."

"There!" pointed Cat.

"I see him," smirked Tori. "But how do we know it's him for sure?"

As if in response, popping sounds were heard outside the aircraft. They looked down and could see the driver turning to shoot upward while also trying to drive.

"Is that motherfucker shooting at us?" asked Jade.

"What is he, a moron?" asked Cat.

Tori shook her head.

"Nope. He's panicking. He knows we got the drop on him."

Cat looked over, concerned.

"You're not gonna shoot him, are you? _Can_ you?"

"Yeah," Jade replied. "Watch this."

The dark-haired woman reached past Tori and lifted a small plastic cover over a blue button. She pressed it. As if on its own, the car started skidding and sliding out of control before coming to a stop.

"What was that?" asked Tori.

"EMP."

"Nice," Tori said to Jade.

"He's getting out," warned Cat.

"And the chase resumes," sighed Tori.

"Tori, take her down."

She looked at Jade confused.

"What, why?"

"In case he goes somewhere we can't follow. You keep a view of everything but we can't risk losing him. Let's go, Cat."

The half-Latina hesitated before descending onto the street. Jade and Cat made a quick exit.

"Please be careful," Tori said. "Promise me."

"We will," Jade promised. She then showed her girlfriend that she was packing. "Better than any gun, this baby will send a strong signal to knock him on his ass."

"Okay," Tori nodded.

"Hurry, before we lose him!"

Tori closed the door and levitated back up until she was well over the rooftops of downtown. She switched to stealth mode and kept tracking Thomas, who was still on foot.

"So how do we find a ride out here?" asked Cat.

Jade took out her phone.

"We've got one. Just has to find us."

* * *

Police at the scene of the attempted robbery of the reserve found an overturned motorcycle. They've apprehended plenty of speed demon punks and brought in a bunch of motor bikes and cycles, but nothing that looked like this. It looked like a prop from a science-fiction movie.

Two of the cops picked up the heavy machine until it was right-side up.

Suddenly, it started with a fierce growl and the controls lit up.

"Hey, guys!"

Then the bike took off all by itself, leaving a bemused officer.

* * *

Jade held up her hand to her ear when she caught the faint sound of an engine.

"Here she comes."

A dot appeared down the street and came at a healthy clip toward them but it stopped on a dime inches away from them.

"Are you serious?" Cat asked.

"Saddle up, Miss Kitty. You're driving."

* * *

Tori kept everything at her disposal to maintain tabs on Terry Thomas. She had motion detectors and thermographs at the ready in case he went behind something solid where she couldn't see. Tori also had a radio close by that operated on the emergency frequencies, she could alert the authorities and they can arrest Thomas once they had him cornered.

"Babe, how're we looking?"

 _"And the pet names begin,"_ she thought.

"Got him crossing Primrose, heading in the direction of Juniper."

"On it," confirmed Jade. "About a quarter mile out."

After a few more minutes, He vanished.

Tori looked around, trying to see where he went. Unable to find him, she made the on board gadgets do the work. It seems that Thomas' movements ceased and judging from the scanners he was hiding out inside the old Prism Arena. The structure was abandoned and almost completely gutted out. It was set to be demolished next month.

"Update?" asked Jade over the speaker.

"Yeah, he stopped for now. Probably to catch his breath. He's in the Prism."

"I see it!" called out Cat.

They were close.

"Roger that," said Tori. "I'll take this to the roof and watch if he makes a break for it."

Jade said back "Alright, we're going in."

"Be careful," Tori reiterated.

If not for just the dangerous man inside, the building itself could fall just like that old church.

Tori breathed deeply before settling herself to hover over the old arena's roof. Jade wanted Tori to trust her. She understood that has been an issue, especially where loved ones were concerned. But Jade has proven herself more than capable and even her little friend, Cat has displayed pluck and courage throughout. Even when coming to her aid in that dilapidated apartment building, Tori could see she wasn't one to go down without fighting.

She had to trust Jade that she would return. She had to trust that they would watch each others' backs.

And Tori would do her damnedest to be the eye in the sky and make sure nothing got the drop on her girlfriend.

* * *

Cat rode in between the wooden horses surrounding the massive building. The doors leading inside were already removed so getting in wasn't the problem. What was going to be a challenge was finding Thomas.

The Prism is a monster of a structure. The center area where all the different venues used to be set up (boxing matches, tractor pulls, hockey games) stood 140 feet, which was average for a completely enclosed neighborhood arena. Surrounding the arena portion proper was a winding walkway that stretched from the ground floor all the way to the top. When you walked it, unlike a parking garage, you barely noticed a change in elevation. Just felt like you were making circles when you were finding your seats, or the bathroom or somewhere to get some snacks.

That being said, with Tori situated straight above, she cannot determine on what level Thomas may be in. All she can gather is he is inside somewhere along the north side of the walkway. She sent the approximate coordinates to Cat and she followed them. Jade meanwhile held on tightly with one hand whilst having her weapon at the ready.

* * *

Terry Thomas held his chest. He hadn't run so fast and for so long since grade school. While an average build of a man, he was a little older and not in shape.

He thought he was hearing things when the echo of what sounded like a motorcycle came out of nowhere. Thomas could swear the noise was getting louder and louder. He wondered if was his nerves with everything that's been going on tonight. It wasn't his first twilight job but this was his first in a long time and certainly the most ambitious.

"What the fuck?"

Thomas turned at the insistent sound of a bike.

Seeing nothing, he figured some kids were racing outside. At this point, the old stadium was likely a house of cards. The walls were obviously thin and some windows busted; he had to have been hearing a commotion from out there.

An amber light against the wall, creating a perfect shadow of himself, told him otherwise.

His eyes widened at the inexplicable sight of a strange motorcycle roaring toward him. Knowing he couldn't outrun the thing, he forced himself to make that few yards at full speed to reach the entrance to the arena.

 _"No way in hell they can follow me,"_ he thought. _"Steps are too steep."_

The skidding of tires above him got his back up. He briefly looked back and his heart sank at the 600 pounds of steel coming at him.

* * *

"I fucking hate you!" cried Cat who was scared out of her wits.

"Don't let him get away!" ordered Jade.

* * *

Thomas jumped over the railing and took a chance at some thirty feet below. He landed hard on the red plastic seats.

"Ah, fucking he-, ah!"

* * *

Cat whipped the bike around 90 degrees, determined to not jump the edge. Luckily even Jade wasn't that crazy. Instead, she got off with her gun and shot downward at the limping man. Jade banged on the metal bar and screamed in frustration.

"I don't think we can get this thing back up the steps in reasonable time."

Jade kicked a seat that went and fell over. Cat was right.

"Here," she grabbed a spare gun and handed it to the redhead. "You've lived on the wrong side of the tracks so I'll assume you've handled a gun before?"

Cat rolled her eyes and took the weapon.

Jade demonstrated using her own.

"Twist the handle to charge, give it five seconds and fire. Got it?"

"We're splitting up aren't we?" Cat looked worried.

"It's okay, he's injured from that stunt so he's moving slower. You check this level and I'll get the one below."

"Below?"

Jade climbed over the railing and leaned outward until she saw the next railing on the level below her. She took a deep breath and pushed off. Jade prayed like she never had before while in mid-air before grasping the railing. It was more of a long shot but lent to a more graceful landing compared to Thomas. At least she didn't break her leg doing that.

She climbed over to safety and looked back up at Cat, grinning.

"You are one crazy bitch!" she shouted.

Jade just puckered her lips and retorted "Aww, you're so sweet."

* * *

Tori watched the perimeter of the stadium like a hawk. Nobody left and and no one else came in. She stared at the radio nervously. Tori hated waiting like this.

At least until the access door burst open and the one man in the world she was hunting for was face to face with her.

She was as surprised to see him as he was to see a large aircraft over the roof.

The tan woman gripped the controls and turned toward her target. She shined her lights on him and had artillery ready to go.

"TERRY THOMAS!" came a voice over the bullhorn. "THERE IS NOWHERE TO GO. DROP ANY WEAPON YOU HAVE AND GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!"

He thought for a moment, smirked and slowly began descending to one knee.

Before he dropped to his other knee, Thomas quickly reached into his coat and flung the acid toward the light.

The canister shattered, spilling the corrosive liquid all over the front of the Black Swan. Within seconds it had eaten through the hull and was now making garbage of the engine.

Tori was starting to lose control as the plane was attempting to fly but instead crashing onto the rooftop. The impact sent the whole thing to start caving in. Thomas realized his blunder too late and was soon going down with the ship.

Everyone within a twenty block radius had heard the rumbles of the once great Prism Arena collapsing into dust.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Been pretty sick lately. When I wasn't brainstorming, I was binge-watching _Orange is the New Black_. Almost completely caught up before season 6 drops. Now that I'm well enough to sit up straight and type, here is what you've been waiting for.**

* * *

Tori thought the worst of it was behind her when the plane crashed onto the stadium roof.

But that serenity only lasted for half a second when she realized the building was giving way right from under her.

She was afraid for her life and even more for Jade and Cat who were still inside. Just like when she was a sniper and her mark was getting in a car; she had only one very small window and could not afford to screw it up.

Tori switched on Project Ghost and set her sights on the floor below. Within moments, she was out of the jet and tumbled into the arena. The sound of the collapsing roof right above her was deafening and sent her into a panic. She wasn't exactly claustrophobic but being trapped in a dying structure generated an understandable anxiety.

"Where are you?" she called into the communicator on her wrist. She had left the frequency open so either of them could respond.

Five seconds...ten seconds...

"TORI? TORI! WHAT'S HAPPENING?"

The half-Latina's heart ached for Jade. She sounded so terrified.

"It's coming down. We need to get out. NOW. Cat? Cat, come in!"

An audible scream came over the radio before the redhead chimed in.

"Here."

"What's your location?" Jade asked.

"Um...D-3" Cat replied.

"I'm right above you."

Tori commanded as she took off, "Both of you stay put."

"Why?" Cat asked.

"Because I'm above Jade."

Without her full speed running faltering, Tori jumped and prepared for a rough landing as she vanished beneath the floor. She then came through the ceiling and fell on top of Jade. The brunettes looked at one another, equal measures delighted and shocked.

"Clever girl," Jade said, noticing the device in Tori's possession.

"Hold on," Tori warned as they held hands and both passed through the floor.

The crashing of two women on a faux-wooden bench scared the shit out of Cat. She practically jumped ten feet when she turned around to see her friends.

"Oh, Jesus, are you two alright?"

Tori coughed, getting up while Cat assisted with Jade.

"Fine," replied Jade. She then turned to Tori. "Where's the plane?"

"Don't ask," said Tori. "How about the bike?"

"Don't ask," Cat quipped before Jade could say anything.

Jade looked around the area they were in. It looked stable...for the moment. But the death throes of the Prism were heard by all three.

"So, how do we get out of here?" Cat asked.

"With this," Tori said, holding up Project Ghost.

"That's all very well but we're on the fourth floor and there won't be enough time to rush to the lobby."

The redhead had a point.

Jade pondered this when she spotted a massive window overlooking the neighborhood.

"That window," she pointed.

Jade snatched the machine from Tori, stepped in front of all of them and pointed the device toward the window. Her free hand was stretched behind her, which Tori seized. Then Cat grabbed Tori's other hand.

"Let's make a run for it," Jade ordered.

She then sped away, dragging her friends behind her.

"But we can't break through that window!" Tori protested.

"Through? Yes. Breaking? No!"

Cat yelped in a thrill tone as they got closer to the window and when instantly on the outside, plummeting to the ground below.

SPLASHHHH!

Jade emerged from the water first, hacking up a lung and Tori soon followed. They both quickly retrieved Cat. They sat in the reflecting pool, catching their breath as they witness the final collapsing of the Prism Arena.

Tires screeched simultaneously as red and blue flashing lights appeared. The trio didn't have a chance to make tracks before they were completely surrounded.

"Well that's just great," sighed Tori.

"HANDS UP!"

Cat, Jade and eventually Tori complied.

* * *

Detective Marsden surveyed the three young women, both drenched to the bone. They were supplied with KPD t-shirts and sweatpants so the could discard their soaked clothing.

"Why is it..." the officer began with his arms folded. "...that you and anyone else connected to you aren't far behind when things go batshit?"

Tori, Cat and Jade looked at one another. They had to admit how bad it looked.

"There is a very reasonable explanation for that," Jade offered, her arms on the table. "Kind of a long story."

Marsden breathed deeply and took a chair on the opposite side of the table.

Jade had the floor of interrogation room number 4.

"Try me."

The paler of the bunch began her story.

"I had recently found out that one of my senior executives, a Leopold Kermer, was making shady dealings with a criminal. This criminal...it turned out...was Terry Thomas aka Mr. Hand. But before we found that out, I let Mr. Kermer go. That should have ended things but sadly it did not. Thomas was determined to obtain a secret project that was locked away in our labs."

Marsden leaned to his left and picked up the Project Ghost, which was place in a clear trash bag.

"For this?"

"Yes," Jade nodded.

"And what does it do?" asked the cop.

Jade cleared her throat, silently asking her father for forgiveness for doing a shit job keeping this piece of tech under wraps.

"It allows the user to...uh...pass through walls. Something about the breaking down of molecules or...something."

She was trying to downplay her intelligence (and experience) in this regard.

"Does it?" Marsden mused as he examined the bag, seemingly unimpressed.

"Well, not anymore" Jade shrugged. "Kind of waterlogged."

Jade quickly switched back to what she was saying before Marsden got suspicious or bored.

"Anyway, my apartment and lab were both broken into...I'm sure you remember that."

Marsden nodded.

"Yes, Miss West. We have that on file."

Blue-green eyes flashed toward brown eyes beside her when the officer briefly looked down at the table.

"The one sent to my home got away but the hired goon who went to my lab nearly killed Dr. Erwin Sikowitz. He was an old friend of the family and wouldn't still be around if I didn't show up." Jade winced a bit, realizing how unintentionally heroic she made that sound. "I mean, he was surprised. He was so big that was my only advantage."

The cop began tapping his fingers.

"Yes, yes, yes, the previous detectives briefed me on all of this. It's record. What I need from you now is how did this all lead to here?"

Jade took a deep breath.

"Well, sir, Kermer himself then tried to attack me and my girlfriend..." Jade looked to her right. "...Tori Ve- _Victoria_..." her eyes scanned the wall behind her head and was immediately grabbed by a motivational poster saying some stuff about truth and justice. "Ju-Justice. Victoria Justice."

Marsden blinked, "That's your name?"

The half-Latina had no choice but to play along with Jade's ad-libbing.

"Yes, sir."

"She was hurt and they took us to the hospital. I stay for a while and went home. When I returned the next morning, she was gone. And then...later that day...I got a message from Mr. Hand. He threatened her life if I didn't go to the abandoned church with the machine."

"And why didn't you contact us to handle it?" he asked.

Jade then grabbed Tori's hand and conjured up a few fresh tears.

"He said he would know if I called the cops or the FBI or anybody. I had no choice, officer. He was going to _kill her_."

Marsden put up his hand while pushing across the table an open box of tissues.

"Calm down, it's okay Miss West. Deep breaths."

"Thank you," said Jade accepting the tissues.

Tori gave half a smile, psychically applauding her acting.

"Well, that explains how Thomas broke into the heavily guarded reserve. I was skeptical at first but how else could he have done it? All of the employees are clean so..."

"I'm sorry," interrupted Cat. "But can I please get some water?"

The cop nodded, pointing to the water cooler with a stack of dixie cups on top.

"Now what was with your clothes?" asked Marsden. "Those were some funky get ups."

"We were riding motorcycles," Tori chimed in.

Jade turned her head, impressed by her girlfriend's quick thinking. Their outfits could easily pass for biking jumpsuits.

Marsden asked, "And then what?"

"A car came around like really fast," Jade said. "Almost killed us. So, we followed it to try and get the license plates. Next thing we knew, it stopped but the driver was gone."

"Then we found him running and followed him to the arena," added Tori.

The policeman rubbed his temples.

"I hope you ladies appreciate just how dangerous and stupid that was, right?"

Cat replied, "Had we known who it was, we would have thought twice and called you."

"Thanks for that, red" the cop wryly quipped.

"So we started to go in..." Jade looked at the officer. "...again with the benefit of hindsight it was pretty dumb. And then all of a sudden, the whole thing started to cave in and we bolted."

Their hair had ceased dripping but was still very wet.

"And we didn't see where we were going," offered Tori. Being found in the reflecting pool wasn't a detail that was going to be ignored.

Marsden sat back in his chair, taking all of this in. It was fantastic. Not only for the happenstance but also how these women in front of him thought were capable of taking down a dangerous criminal.

"Let's just say for the sake of argument...that was indeed the sequence of events...I still have a DA hungry for a conviction. How do I do that with a dead suspect and three girls in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

The door burst open and a strange-looking man with a long black beard emerged.

"Nothing more, I assure you" replied the stranger in a German accent that sounded almost cartoonish.

"Who the hell are you?" demanded Marsden.

The man turned and closed the door with his left hand. His right was carrying a brown briefcase which looked a little shabby.

"My name is Hal O. Frankenheimer, attorney at large...erm...law. I am Miss West's legal counsel."

Cat looked at the man oddly.

"Hal O?"

"Hi, how are you Fraulein," he chuckled. "Zat never gets old."

The lawyer noticed the impatience of the cop and the confusion of his client, so he decidedly hurried things along.

"Any-hoo...I understand that you took in my client and her friends for questioning. Have zey been read zeir rights?"

"Well, no..." Marsden began.

" _Nien?!_ " the German man gasped.

"They were persons of interest, given how we found them."

"Persons of interest?" he mused, stroking his beard. "How interesting. So zey are not...under arrest?"

Marsden shook his head.

"Not at all, Mr. Frankenheimer. In fact we were just wrapping things up."

"Zat is good, sergeant."

"Detective," he corrected.

"Sorry. Zen I can collect my clients and be on our vay?"

Marsden stood up as the ladies were getting ready to leave.

"Well, there is still a possibility of further questioning. If we have any, can you guarantee you will produce your client?"

"Zat will be no problem, Captain."

"Detective.

"Right," he nodded. "And all of us at Vestbound have been grateful for your help and understanding during zeese last veeks. I am sure zat she will see that a very generous donation be made to your fine folks in uniform. I zink zat two broken coffee makers and a parking lot full of holes are crimes against _you_ ," he pointed.

Frankenheimer cleared his throat.

"Please forgive my...how you say...candor. I'm more zan just an attorney. I'm a guardian of sorts." Frankenheimer then turned to face Jade head on. "You can have my vord that Fraulein West vill stay far away from trouble."

Jade raised an eyebrow at her "legal counsel" whose beard was looking more crooked than a minute ago.

"Look, I appreciate your tenacity, Miss West" said Marsden. "But a woman of your standing will not run out of people trying to extort you or bring you harm. Can you promise me that if anything happens, you will call us and we will handle it? Bodyguards are one thing, but no more trying to take the law into your own hands."

"You will never see me again, sir" nodded Jade.

"I should hope so," smirked Marsden as he folded his arms.

* * *

The foursome filed into the limousine and upon the last door closing, the driver started speeding away back to Westbound Tower.

Jade pulled off the fake beard.

"What? Old man Sikowitz?" she gasped in mock fashion.

"I vould have gotten away vith it, if not for you kids."

The group erupted in laughter.

"I'm sorry, doc" said Tori, "But that was the worst accent I've ever heard."

"Hal O. Frankenheimer?" asked Cat.

"The last name was one of my favorite movie directors," he explained. "And Hal was a kid I went to college with." He then threw the briefcase onto the floor. "This isn't even mine. Found it at a pawn shop."

Jade picked it up, noticing a golden inscription near the handle.

"Who the heck is S. Shay?"

" _I_ want to know who the heck is Victoria _Justice_ ," Tori glared at Jade, arms folded.

"The heat was on, I panicked," she blurted out.

The redhead thought about the name for a moment.

"Does have a nice ring to it."

Sikowitz added, "And she is going to need an identity if she's ever going to have a normal life."

"I know how to make a fake ID," Cat offered.

"So do I," grunted Tori. "But you're missing the bigger picture here."

"What?" Jade asked.

"Nobody is going to believe Victoria Justice is a real name!"

* * *

FOUR MONTHS LATER...

It was a hot day down in St. Maarten.

This sections of white sand and clear water was specially reserved for Jade West and her companion. The former was enjoying watching the latter frolic along the coastline, taking in that wonderful air.

Admittedly, it was difficult for Jade to stay on task when Tori had on that bright yellow two pieces bikini.

"Jade? Jade?! Helllloooo?"

She shook her head and picked up the cell, which had slipped from her grasp.

"Yes, what?"

"As I was saying," said Sikowitz in a huff. "I was able to get the new armor operational and bugs in the software sorted out before you get back. What's that, two days?"

Tori stretched not to far from Jade this, knowingly showing off her caboose.

"N-n-no, pretty sure I said ten days."

"Have you been thinking about a name this time?" asked Sikowitz.

Jade actually gave that some thought and was toying with one for some time.

"How about...The Changeling?"

There was silence on the phone.

"I think that's already taken," he said finally.

"So?" pressed Jade.

"You can't just use the same name, isn't that against the rules or something?"

Tori started walking to her.

"Screw the rules, I have money."

Jade then turned off her phone and buried it in her beach bag.

"Well, hi there" smiled Jade.

Tori got down to her knees and made her best pleading face.

"Are you coming out, Jade? Its lonely here."

Jade sipped her drink under the shade of the little hut for two. The only other thing blocking the sun's might was a lone stumpy palm tree. The big yellow ball overhead was certainly doing its job. And not a cloud in the sky, nobody was safe from its intense warmth.

"Sorry, but tanning is not my thing."

"I wasn't talking about catching some rays." Tori then stood. "Kind of hoping you would catch...me."

Jade leaned forward, hands wrapped around her knees.

"You think I couldn't catch you if I chased you?" her eyes lit up like a hungry jungle cat.

Tori licked her lips.

"If I recall, I gave myself up to you when we first met. You didn't catch me then, so..."

"You know I don't back down from a challenge," Jade warned.

Tori's hands ran down her flat stomach and stopped at her bikini bottoms. She slid both her thumbs underneath, teasing Jade with the thought of taking them off right then and there. Upon seeing Jade start to rise, the half-Latina took off. She laughed so carefree all the way to the water.

Having gotten waist-deep, Tori stopped and closed her eyes, anticipating Jade coming from behind.

When nothing happened, she turned and saw not a soul. Jade wasn't out here, nor on the beach or by their shelter..

Just then something grabbed Tori by the foot and she squealed in surprise. In her trashing, she didn't notice what else was happening.

Before she knew it, Jade had popped out of the water a few feet from her. And in her hands was the bottom to Tori's small yellow bikini.

"Got you," giggled Jade.

"Hey, give those back, West!"

Jade wagged her finger for her to come closer.

"Only if you bring that sweet ass over here."

Tori wandered over to Jade and was immediately grasped by a soft but firm hand. Jade then kissed her deeply, still holding onto her rear with no sign of letting go.

"Whoa," said Tori.

"Yeah whoa," agreed Jade.

Tan hands snaked their way behind her back.

"I love you," Tori said.

"I love you too."

Tori bit Jade's earlobe. "But I love you even more when you're... _topless_!"

Before Jade could react, her girlfriend made off with the top half of her own swimsuit. Jade quickly covered the girls with both arms as she chased after Tori.

"Get back here, Tori!"

"No way! Puppies should never be cooped up like that!"

It went on like that for just a little while but as they both began to tire, they would be transported back to their accommodations. The following week would be filled with adventure and romance and plenty of...physical exercise. And when they would return to the big city, Jade and Tori would make sure that they would have all those things.

And if any danger should rise that would threaten them or the city they hold dear, you can bet that a hero will rise.

* * *

 **A/N: Bit of a cheesy line to go out on. But that's an origin story for you.**


End file.
